Much Ado About Much
by Miss L Croft
Summary: This is set in the time after Marion's death. Robin, Much, Little John and Alan have returned to England, to Nottingham, leaving Will and Djaq behind them in the Holy Land. There are some rather gory bits. Title is too lighweight. No romance between R/M
1. Chapter 1

'Robin?.' Robin turned to the woman who he had just given a small purse of coins.

'Yes, Mary?.'

'I've been told to give you this. The Sheriff came to my house last week, just after your last delivery.' She handed him a small scroll.

'Did he hurt you or the boys?,' Robin asked, taking the scroll.

'No, he just came along and said "next time you see Robin Hood, give him this would you?" And he gave me a gold sovereign.'

'Ok, that's fine. Thanks Mary.' He turned back to Much and Alan, and unrolled the scroll.

'He wants to meet.' They frowned, mounted their horses, and cantered back to the forest.

'So what does he want to meet for?,' Much asked, being typically jumpy.

'He says we have an important matter to discuss, regarding the occupants of the village of Loxley.'

'You think he wants to broker some kind of deal?,' Alan asked.

'I guess so, I don't see why else we'd need to meet. Maybe he's going to try and swap them being fed properly, with us not attacking this autumns tax wagon.'

'Isn't it more likely to be some kind of trap?,' Little John.

'Yes, far more likely!,' Much added.

'It is more likely, but he does not give a date, time or place. We can agree to meet him on our own turf, here in the forest. He can get as many guards as he likes, but in the forest, we are going to have the upper hand.'

'Fine, but I still think it's a bad idea, Robin,' Much said.

'Come on, Much, we've done harder before. And maybe we can finally get something good out of him.' Robin took a scroll, ink and quill from a cubby-hole, and composed a reply. " We will consent to meet you at the cross-roads in the forest, dusk of the day you receive this message". Short and to the point. Now, to Nottingham, to play postman.'

They stood in the courtyard of the castle, disguised in their peasant cloaks. All four of them were there, the only four left to the group. With Will and Djaq in the Holy Land, and Marian gone, only Robin, Much, Little John, and Alan remained. Robin drew his bow, and fired an arrow through the window of what he knew was the Sheriff's chambers.

'Right, best be off.' They left the city as quickly as possible, leaving some deliveries as they went. The arrow Robin had shot had the note hidden within it, and they doubted it would take the Sheriff long to find it.

They arrived at the crossroad's at least an hour before they needed to, in order to ensure that they were not being thrown into a trap. They thoroughly scanned the area, and found it devoid of guards. They then climbed trees, and waited for darkness to draw in.

They did not have to wait long, as the Sheriff, accompanied by several guards, and of course Guy of Gisbourne, arrived less than half an hour later, intending to do his own bit of recconaisance. He motioned quietly to his guards, placing them in their ambush points. The four smiled to each other, then Robin shouted:

'I'm afraid your planning will be of little use to you, Sheriff!.' The Sheriff and Guy stopped, looking about them.

'Really Hood! You cannot imagine that I would be stupid enough to not take precautions. You are, after all, a dangerous outlaw.'

'True, true. You cannot then, imagine, that I would not take my own precautions.' The four of them jumped down from their trees, right in front of the Sheriff and Guy.

'Ah, Hood. Good of you to drop in on us.'

'My pleasure. So, what can we do for you? Loxley, I believe, was the topic of discussion today.'

'Maybe it was, that is no longer valid though, I'm afraid.'

'Oh yes? Why ever not? I thought progress might be being made.'

'Progress? Clue, No!.'

'You're a little short of members at the moment aren't you? What with your carpenter left with his girlfriend, your membership is rather low.' Robin gave Guy a dark look, then turned back to the Sheriff.

'It's quality rather than quantity that matters for us. Not for you it would seem.' He nodded towards the Sheriff's guards.

'Well, I'm afraid that, is where you are grossly mistaken. Wouldn't it be awful for you to lose another of your closest friends? Perhaps I'm taking a different tack now. I can't seem to get at you, can I? And after what happened to your dear 'wife', well, we saw how badly you reacted to all that.' Robin was getting obviously riled, and the others were taking uneasy looks about them. Robin was moving closer to the Sherrif, his grip tightning on his bow. Much put a hand on his arm, and said

'Leave it Robin,' quietly, and Robin relaxed a little, taking a step back.

'So, what, I wonder, would happen if you lost your other closest ally? Someone who had stood by you through it all.'

'You touch a hair on any of my men's head, and you will regret it for the rest of your life, which, I guarantee, would not be very long,' Robin replied, his voice deep and grim.

'I will most definitely hold you to that, my friend.'

'I am no friend of yours. I would sooner befriend the devil, although you and he cannot be far different.'

'Robin, perhaps we best be off,' Much ventured.

'It's a bit late for that now,' the Sheriff said. The four drew their swords, as the Sheriff's men advanced on them. There were nine of them, and the friends fell heartily into fighting them. The Sheriff had obviously hired some better trained men, as they were not falling half as easily as usual. The Sheriff and Guy stood calmly looking on, as the friends tried to fight off the guards. They were so concentrated on their individual fights, that they did not notice a tenth guard, of a foreign ilk, reveal himself from behind the tree which the Sheriff and Guy stood. He drew a short, stocky bow, similar in shape to Robin's, but smaller, probably Asian in design. The Sheriff nodded to Guy, who uncrossed his arms, and stepped into the fight. He waited for Much to draw near, then firmly grabbed hold of him from behind. Much was still trying to fight his assailing guard, but elbowed Guy in the ribs. Guy bent over, and jumped back, but he did not let go. He pulled, with some effort, as Much struggled, and did his best to pull Guy over his back, but the guard he was fighting suddenly stopped, and punched him in the jaw. Guy pulled him round, to face the man with the bow. He drew his bow, and fired an arrow into Much's chest. Much managed to pull away slightly, so it hit him in the side of his chest. He was forced back into Guy, and screamed in pain, and the man fired two further arrows in quick succession. Robin and the others turned and looked, to see Much, still held by Guy, screaming, and falling to his kneesas Guy dropped him.

'Much!!,' Robin cried, whose assailant was momentarily distracted by Robin's cry, and Robin took this opportunity to kick his opponent in the groin. The guard fell, and Robin ran to Much. Much dropped onto the ground from his knees, barely missing forcing the arrows further into his chest.

'Damn you!! Damn you to hell!,' Robin shouted at Guy and the Sheriff.

'As you see, I have chosen to take the other tact. Have fun with that, if you feel like negotiating for some reason, you know where to find me, I'll be quite willing to go along. Goodbye!.'

'Oh, no, you're not getting away that easily!.' Little John ran towards the Sheriff, but was held off by Guy, who swiftly drew his sword, and held it to John's throat. The Sheriff mounted his horse, and Guy slowly drew back, then jumped on his. The guards drew back as well, and then the whole group, including the foreigner rode off in a group. As he turned to leave, the Sheriff called back.

'Remember, if you need me for anything, don't hesitate to call!.'

'Grah!,' Robin shouted, and threw his sword after the Sheriff, but it fell short as he cantered off. Robin dropped to his knees next to Much, and lifted him into his arms. 'Much? Much, you're going to be alright.'

'I'm fine Robin,' Much whispered, his breath short. 'Although I am feeling a little too much like a pin-cushion for my liking, would you do the honours?.' Tears welled in Robin's eyes, and he held Much tight in the one hand, as he snapped off the arrows a few inches from their ends. The arrows were fletched with brightly coloured feathers. Much winced at the pressure, and tightened his grip on Robin's arm, but did not speak.

'Oh Much, what have I done?.'

'It's not your fault, I'm going to be fine.' He spoke to convince himself as much as Robin. He became suddenly dizzy, and his head dropped.

'Oh god, please Much!.'

'It's my head. God, it's throbbing.'

'I'm not being funny Robin, but I think he's bin poisoned. That guy was funny, he's tipped the arrows or somethin',' Alan said, stepping forward and kneeling next to Much. He took his chin, and turned his head to him, looking into his eyes.

'See, his eyes have gone all funny.'

'Hence the negotiation,' Little John said, joining the group. He tried to take Much from Robin, to examine Much's wounds, but Robin wouldn't let him, hugging him closer. 'Come on Robin, I need to get a look.' Robin still wouldn't let go, so Little John moved to just behind Robin's right hand side, and examined Much's wound. Much, who's head was still hanging, his eyes now weeping tears, even though he was not crying, cried out when Little John pressed his hand to the wound. He pulled it back, and it was covered in blood.

'He's really hot, come on, we gotta get him a drink or somethin'. Better get back to camp for the moment,' Alan said.

'We've got to get to the Sheriff, he's not going to have used anything we can find an antidote for is he?.'

'I agree,' Little John said, standing. 'We better move quickly.'

'No!,' Much shouted, trying to lift his head back up. 'No, it's too dangerous, he'll kill you all.'

'Much, there is no way we're leaving you like this,' Robin said, holding Much's head for him.

'Robin, I've said before that it's not worth risking all of us for the one of us. I've said it. I've said it for others, and it's not going to be any different just because it's me.'

'Much, you may have said that, but we've always disagreed. It doesn't matter if we're killled; if we can't save you, there's no point.' Much half sighed, but gasped half way through, and a small drop of blood dripped from the side of his mouth. 'Oh Much.' Robin stood, carrying Much in his arms. 'We'll ride now, Much can come with me, we'll go to the castle. There's no other way.'

'If only Djaq were here,' Much said. 'She'd know what to do.' They all sighed, remembering their dear friends, who it was likely they would never see again. Robin passed Much to Little John, and mounted his horse. Little John then passed him back, and Robin tried to gently place Much on the saddle in front of him. Much gasped as his chest was moved, but put a brave face on it. Alan, already mounted, led a horse to Little John, who mounted, and they began to move. They started at a trot.

'That alright?,' Robin asked Much.

'Yes, as all right as it could be.' They broke into a canter, then a gallop, speeding down the road towards Nottingham.

'Robin?.'

'Yes Much.?.' They were drawing nearer to Nottingham, and Much seemed to have just woken up from a swoon.

'I'm so sorry for everything I've done.'

'You haven't done anything to be sorry for.'

'Yes I have. I'm always nagging you, being cowardly, I eat too much, and if it weren't for me, we might have saved Marian.'

'Much, you are talking nonsense. That had nothing to do with you, it was a twist of fate that none of us could have avoided.'

'No. If it weren't for us getting stuck in the barn, we could have prevented her going to the Holy Land in the first place.'

'No Much, that really wasn't your fault. None of us could have prevented it, it was Guy, he couldn't handle the truth.'

'Please make sure I'm not remembered as the annoying cook.'

'Much, it is a long time before you will need to be remembered, and even so you will be remembered for what you were, a strong fighter, and a loyal friend.' Much didn't reply. Robin pulled his horse to a halt instantly, and the others stopped moments later.

'Much?! Much?!.' Much didn't reply, but Robin leant over, and felt a tiny draft of air on his cheek from Much, and sighed in relief. 'He's alive, come on!.' He kicked his horse back into motion, and galloped up to the gate of the castle. 'We're here to see the Sheriff, he's expecting us.' To his surprise, no resistance was put up, and they were allowed straight through. The Sheriff watched from his window.

'Guy! He's here.' He ran down the strairs to the door of the castle, stopping for a moment to compose himself, then opened both doors and marched out, with Guy trotting to catch up.

'Hood! I thought we'd be seeing you soon!.' Robin, Little John and Alan jumped off their horses, and then Robin lifted Much off, who was still unconscious.

'I haven't got time to talk Vasey, what do I have to do to get the antidote?!.' He marched past the Sheriff and Guy, and down into the Great Hall. John and Alan followed, glowering at Guy and the Sheriff as they went passed. Robin reached the table, and lay Much down on it. He was sweating hard, there was a trickle of blood from his mouth, and his side was red with blood.

'If he dies, Prince John can do whatever he damn well wants with Nottingham, I will KILL YOU!,' Robin shouted, turning to the Sheriff.

'That may well be the case. But what if there isn't an antidote? What if I was feeding you false hope?.' He saw the fear flicker in Robin's eyes, and smiled. 'You see, that's the fatal difference between you and me. We both have sidekicks,' he said, hitting Guy in the chest with the back of his hand, 'but, you make the mistake of genuinely caring for yours. You can watch your friend die here, instead of in the comfort of your 'home', but there is nothing I can do for him.' Before Robin could reach him, he had left the room, with Guy behind him, and the door was locked. Little John screamed, and threw his staff at the wall. It snapped in two.

'Oh Much. What have I done? How did I let this happen?.' Robin turned back to Much, who was still lying still on the table. Robin put his hand to his forehead, which was boiling hot and wet with sweat. He slowely pulled off Much's trademark hat, revealing his blonde-brown hair, and wiped his forehead with it.

'It isn't over Robin, 'course it isn't,' Alan said, standing next to him. 'We need to get the points out, that might help.'

'Yes, but when we get the points out he'll bleed to death.'

'Well we need to try! We leave them in there's no hope of him living! If we get them out, we can at least try and stem the flow!.' Little John joined them, having stood staring at the door for some minutes.

'I agree, we need to do something. I'm not just going to stand and wait for him to die.' He pushed Robin out of the way, and stood in front of Much. 'At least like this he might not feel to pain.' He lifted Much's upper body, and pulled off his jumper, rolling it and laying it down as a pillow. He then began slowely unbuttoning Much's shirt. Alan stood watching, and Robin had turned away. Little John cringed as he pulled the shirt away from the wound, where it was sticking to the blood. There were three points sticking out of Much's side, and widening cuts either side.

'This, will hurt,' John said. Robin turned back, and took Much's hand. Alan held his head, then the three of them nodded. John took hold of one of the points in one hand, and used the other to spread the cut. Much wimpered in his sleep. John shut his eyes, and then pulled sharply. Much suddenly sat up, screaming, his eyes wide open. Alan moved to support him, and Robin moved his hand to the wound, which began quickly seeping blood. John held an intact point in his hand, then threw it over his shoulder.

'Keep the pressure, I've got to get these other two out before I can bandage.' He moved closer, and did the same with the next point. Much screamed, and tried to pull away from Robin and John. Alan held him in place.

'Hang in there, won't be long now,' he said. Much fainted back into his arms, and was quiet. The new wound was weaping blood, and Robin frowned.

'God, what are we doing,' he said, rhetorically. 'This is madness.' John dropped the second point, and quickly, without warning, jerked out the last point. Much awoke again and screamed.

'Right, bandages, cloth, something to wrap it in, quick!,' John called. Alan handed him Much's already blood soaked jumper, and John quickly tied it tightly round Much's chest. 'That'll do for now, but I think I need to clean them out. That'll be painful, and I don't even know if it'll work. But I think the poison will only work as long as it's in contact with his flesh, I don't think it'll soak in properly, if we can wash it out, he might be all right. That is if he doesn't bleed to death. I'll need supplies though.'

'Right. Leave that to me,' Alan said. Robin took his place and Alan climbed down from the table. He turned to the door, and saw Guy standing in the slightly open door way. He ran up the stairs to meet him. 'Look, Guy, please. We need bandages, water..help.' Guy scowled, not talking, his eyes fixed on Much's bleeding form. 'Guy, please! We need your help! You know what it feels like to lose someone you love. Not saying that we love Much the way you loved Marian, it's different, but it's kind of stronger, if you follow me. Please Guy.'

'I can't help, the Sheriff won't let me.'

'Damn the bloody Sheriff! Marian was right you know, you could be so much more without him! Don't you see, he's limiting your power, not giving you it!!,' Alan was shouting, drawing the attention of the guards, and Robin and John. John glowered at Guy, but Robin couldn't. He wanted to, but all he saw was the man who had, probably successfully, taken the two most important people in his life from him. He'd lost, there was no point in keeping up the fight. Perhaps Guy saw this, perhaps he just recognised what he had felt, that fateful day, the day that had changed his life, he thought permanently, for the worse, when he had killed Marian.

'What was it you needed?,' he said, turning to Alan.

'John, what do you need?.'

'Warm water, towels, bandages, and something to make him sick. A bucket and a bowl.' Guy heard, and walked out of the room, shouting to guards to fetch him what he needed.

'I said NOW!!,' shouted viciously, as they were too shocked to obey immediately. Guy turned back into the room.

'Guy, I can't thank you enough,' Alan said.

'I don't want your thanks,' he said to Alan. He ran down the stairs, and stood in front of Much and Robin. 'I want your forgiveness.' There was sadness in his eyes, and Robin saw the genuine regret, for everything, he thought.

'Guy, I can never forgive you for everything you've done to me over the years, but if we get through this, I will try to put it behind us, if we can make some sort of progress. You and I have a lot to discuss. But now is not the time. Help John.' Guy jumped to help, as the guards came in carrying the things John had asked for.

'Get out!,' Guy shouted when they had placed the items on the table. He drew his dagger, which sent all three of them jumping forward, until they saw that he was just cutting the make-shift bandage off.

'Right,' John said. 'Robin, try and keep him still, you might want to gag him even, this will hurt more than anything else. Alan, pass me that rag, then get ready to hold his side and stop the blood.' He glanced at Guy, who was standing next to him. 'Guy, you pass me bandages.' John dunked the rag in the warm water, then moved Alan's hand from the wounds. There was blood drying around them, and the cuts were quite deep. John moved his hand towards them. He stopped halfway, turning to Guy.

'Is there anything you know that can help us, before I start this? 'Cos there's no turning back.' Guy sighed.

'It's not actually very lethal, you'd need huge doses to kill instantly. The idea is to make the death slow and very painful. It messes with your head, and disrupts breathing. On the skin it wouldn't make much difference, only when it is directly applied to flesh does it work. Hence tipping the arrows, which would reach the flesh, and make it nigh on impossible to remove the poison. You're right in that you'd need to wipe it off. There is no antidote.' John sighed, and turned back to Much.

'Sorry Much.' He pulled the first cut apart, and, wrapping a small section of cloth around his little finger, pushed his finger into the wound. Much writhed in pain, screaming, and it took Robin and Alan to stop him from pulling away. John tried to reach in, but blood was now pouring out of the wound, and he withdrew.

'Oh, oh god almighty make it stop,' Much whispered, breathily, as he fell back into Robin.

'Try again John,' Robin said, resolutely. John sighed, and pushed the wound apart again. Much pushed against Robin, his breathing quickening, gritting his teeth. John reached the end of the wound, and began wiping it out. Much let out an anguished scream, but gave out half way through, weakening. 'Hurry John, I don't know how much more he can take,' Robin said, watching John's progress, and the stream of blood leaving the wound. John pulled his finger back out. The rag was now soaked with blood, but there was also a streak of a thick, black substance, not unlike black treacle, on it.

'Ok, Much, hold out. You're doing fine,' he said.

'I think, you will find...John...that I most..certainly...am not...fine!,' Much said, gasping for air, his character shining through the pain. John, without warning, opened the next cut, and forced a cleaner bit of rag in. 'Oh, oh...dear god.'

'That's it lad, hang in there.' Guy had put his hand to cover the first wound, as Alan was still helping to hold Much in place. John moved about more in the second wound, and Much's breathing became increasingly laboured, but after a moment or two, John had cleaned the second wound.

'Any improvement?,' he asked Alan. Alan looked into Much's eyes.

'I dunno,' he said. 'Hard to tell. I don't think so. But there's still the one left.'

'It'll take a while to work out of his system,' Guy said. Robin, whilst holding Much, was watching Guy, who was earnestly watching John's progress, taking the occasional glance at Much's face. John moved to the third and final cut, which was deeper than the first two, but not as wide, due to the angle at which the arrow had gone in.

'Robin, I'm going to have to open this cut, I can't get in.' Robin considered for a moment, looking from Much to John.

'Best do it. But do it quickly.' Guy handed John his dagger, and John gravely took it.

'Forgive me,' he said, as he delicately put the sharp blade to Much's flesh, and cut further into his chest. Much screamed, sweat pouring down his body. A saracen expletive escaped his lips, then John had cut far enough. He wet a new cloth, the current one being entirely soaked with blood, and went back into the newly opened wound.

'Oh christ save me now.' Robin took both Much's hands, and held them to his chest.

'You're doing great Much, nearly done now,' he said. Much nodded.

'Yes, fine, nearly done. Ouch.' He screwed his eyes and rested his head on Robin. John swiped his finger for the last time, and came out of the wound.

'Clean, I think,' he said, showing them the glob of black on the cloth. 'Right, bandages.' He took Guys place over the wounds, as Guy fetched some bandages. John folded one into a smallish square, pressed it against the wounds, then began wrapping another around Much's whole chest. He pulled them tight, then tied them on the opposite side to the wounds.

'Well done Much,' Robin said, wiping his forehead, and the blood from his mouth.

'Not over yet, is it?,' Much said, voicing their joint concern. 'And, if you don't mind, I'm now going to faint.' He slumped against Robin, finally giving up the effort to stay conscious.

'You think he'll be alright?,' Robin asked John.

'Can't tell. We'll just have to wait and find out.'

'Right, can we move him yet?.'

'Leave it a while, he's bled too much for that to be a wise idea.'

'You thought about how we're going to get out? The Sheriff's hardly going to let us just waltz out of here is he?,' Alan said. Robin turned to Guy.

'I can get you out, but I can't risk letting the Sheriff know I helped you, not while you're still in the castle.' He stood over Much, watching his chest rise and fall steadily, as his breathing began to relax.

'Thank you Guy. You've saved Much's life, that is something I can never thank you enough for.'

'Even though it was me who would have been responsible for his death?.'

'Oi, you're never beyond the point of no return,' Alan said, looking at Robin, and speaking from his own experience.

'When the bleeding subsides we'll need to stitch the wounds, but I'd rather wait until we're in the forest before I try that,' John said. 'Best leave him to rest for a bit.' Robin turned back to Much, leaning his arms on the table. Much was fast asleep, a puddle of his blood soaking into the chunky oak table.

'We need to get him home as quickly as possible, we're not safe until we're in the forest.' He put his hand to Much's forehead. 'He's getting cold, do we have any blankets or anything?.'

'I'll get some,' Guy said, glad to have an excuse to do something. He walked quietly out of the room, shutting the door behind him. The three looked at eachother, each speculative looks regarding Guy's behaviour. He returned moments later with three thick blankets. He handed them to Robin, without speaking, and not meeting Robin's gaze. Robin gently lifted Much, and wrapped one of the blankets around him. Much suddenly opened his eyes, and made a lurching motion.

'Bucket!,' Robin said, and Alan ran to pass it to him. As soon as it was within his reach, Much bent over it, and emptied his stomach into it.

'Told you,' John said. Much continued lurching over the bucket. Robin passed him a clean rag, as he moved away from the bucket. Alan walked over, and took his chin again, looking into Much's eyes.

'See, 'is eyes are gettin' normal again.' Robin joined him, and saw that Much's pupils were no longer so dilated, and he was generally looking more relaxed.

'How's your head?,' he asked Much.

'Still hurts, but it's better thanks.'

'Feel up for a ride?.' Robin saw that he really wasn't, but that Much didn't really want to admit it.

'Course I am, what's a little ride on a Sunday morning?.' Robin smiled, and hugged him.

'God, Much. Thank God you're ok.' Much put up an arm to hug him back, but not the one on the side of his wound. Guy was watching closely, his arms crossed, his head hanging.

'I can get you out of the castle, but I'll need to talk to you sometime. There's things we need to do.' Robin turned to him.

'Yes, I believe there are. We'll arrange a meeting sometime.'

'Can we not arrange one now?.' Alan and John looked suspiciously at Guy, but Robin said:

'Fine, we'll come to my house the day after tomorrow, we need to allow Much some recovery time. We'll be there in the late evening.'

'Thank you.' Guy turned to the door, and opened it.

'Fetch their horses, bring them to the door. They will also need some herbal medicines, fetch some from the physician. Anything else?,' he asked, turning to John.

'Maybe a needle and some thread,' John said. They all knew that he would not be using them for embroidery.

'Right, you heard him.' The sound of hooves was heard outside, and Alan jumped up the stairs. He saw that their own horses were standing outside, held by attending guards.

'You ain't gonna just send someone after us are you?.'

'Yes, good point, ensure that the Sheriff does not send men after us, we cannot fight them in this state,' Robin said to Guy.

'I will see to it that you have a safe passage.' He walked closer to Robin, and stood in front of him. He offered his hand. Robin looked at it for a moment, then took it in a strong hand shake.

'Hopefully this is the first of many good deeds,' he said to Guy. John moved to lift Much, but Robin took his place. John gave him an understanding look, and moved aside.

'Alright?,' Robin asked Much, bending over to lift him in his arms. Much winced as he was lifted, but made no other indication of pain.

'Yes, yes, I think I am all right. Apart from the being carried about like a woman, that's not ideal.' Robin laughed, and the five of them moved out of the room, and down the castle steps to the horses. John and Alan mounted, their horses held by the guards. Robin turned to Guy, and gently handed Much to him. Guy held him strongly, and Much looked up into his face.

'Some time Robin, you are going to have to explain to me exactly when and how Guy came over to our side.' Guy smiled, with a small snort of laughter, and then handed Much back to Robin, up on the horse.

'I think, Much, that might be a long story, and we will have to leave it to Guy to tell us.' He smiled sadly down at Guy, getting Much positioned more comfortably, then kicked his horse into a trot. 'Thank you!,' he said, turning to look back at Guy. Just as they reached to portcullis, he saw the Sheriff running to the door, and shouting after them. 'Hehe, another lucky escape Much.' They broke into a canter, heading towards the forest.


	2. Chapter 2

Much was lying on his bed in their camp, which Will had so carefully crafted. Robin walked over, holding a plate of food.

'Feel like eating?.' Much eyed the food, a piece of chicken, and a small soft, brown, breadroll.

'This must be the first time I have ever said this, but I really do not feel like eating yet.'

'Hear that boys?! Much, not eating! He must be quite out of sorts.' Alan and John laughed, and Robin turned back to Much.

'How are you feeling?,' he asked quietly, sitting down.

'Oh. Not very well. Scared, in all honesty.'

'The stitching?.'

'I know it's stupid, but yes.'

'Much, you need not fear ill judgement. You have been unbelievably brave today, we are not going to think ill of you, if you are a little scared of the idea of someone pulling string through your already painful wounds.' Much sighed, and turned away. 'I mean it Much! You've done us proud. Now you better get some more rest, call me if you need anything, I think John is going to wait till mid-day tomorrow, when there's most light.' Much nodded, and closed his eyes.

The three of them sat round the fire together, slowely chewing their bread. The mood was, quite frankly, set for a heart to heart.

'That was a bit too close for comfort,' Alan said.

'I know I always complain about him, and I'm a bit mean to him, but I don't know what we'd do without him,' John said. Robin sighed.

'After what happened in the Holy Land,' he began, after a moments silence. 'After..Marian was killed, I thought I'd fall apart. She was my reason for everything. To have her taken from me...I wasn't going to let it happen again either. What happened after the Holy Land the first time. I wasn't going to let myself block him out, think that I had to go through it all on my own. Much was there for me, we could talk through everything, he saw me on the road to sense. I don't know what I'd have done if it weren't for his guidance... I don't know what I'd have done if he hadn't made it.' There was silence as each contemplated his own idea of life without Much.

'Glad to know I'm not completely unappreciated!,' he called from his bed.

'It's true though, if the Sheriff is taking this different tack, it's going to be more difficult for us to keep things together.

'There are just simply too few of us,' John said.

'I'm afraid, as usual, you are right John.'

'It's never going to be the same again though, is it?,' Alan said. 'Even if Djaq and Will did come back, they'd have kids or something.'

'And now we're just a small group of batchelors, who happen to help the poor,' Much said.

'No, we're still Robin Hood! Just that now the percentage of actual Robin Hood in the group has drastically increased,' John said, rather scientifically.

'We must continue our work. We tried to get the King back, but he wouldn't come, Nottingham needs us.'

'What about the rest of the country? Who's going to help them?,' Much said.

'There will be people like us throughout the country,' Robin said. 'It just happens though, that we are the best at it,' he added with a chuckle. Much sat up on his bed, slowely pushing himself up, to lean against the tree trunk at the head of his bed.

'Take it easy Much, you must have lost pints today,' Robin said, turning in his seat to look at Much.

'I'm fine. Really.' He smiled, then shut his eyes, sighing.

The night sky was clear when Robin woke, and the moon shone through the thick summer leaves of the trees above his head. He rolled onto his side, looking outwards from the camp. He immediately noticed a person sitting against a tree a bit out from camp. He quickly glanced round the camp, and saw that Much's covers were drawn back, and his bed was empty. He threw his own covers back, and sat on his bed, legs bent, arms on knees. Much was not moving, and making no sound as far as Robin could hear. His legs were drawn up in front of him, his arms crossed. Robin could only see his silhouette from this distance, but saw him move his hand to his face. Robin stood up, and quietly strolled towards him, with his hands in his pockets.

'You, should be sleeping,' he said cheerfully, as he drew near. Much turned to look at him, and Robin saw the telltale glint of light off tears on Much's cheek. He sat down next to him.

'What's up?.'

'Oh, nothing really. Just...things.' He looked away, back out into the forest.

'Much, you can tell me. You should tell me in fact,' Robin said quietly. 'Remember how things got last time we stopped talking to eachother about things?.' Much sighed, and nodded.

'Fine. I just started thinking about if I had died that's all. Silly I know, seeing as I didn't. It's just, there's so many things left for me to do.'

'Are you thinking of Eve?.'

'Hmm...yes. I don't have a clue where she is, how she is. She might be dead, she might have married. For all I know it was just a silly fancy. She might have completely gone off me. For all I know, I might never see her again.'

'Eve was a brave woman, with a strong, good heart. She did not strike as the sort to go back on her word. She will find you. You will find her.'

'It does not matter how brave someone is, how strong they are, or how good they are. They can still come to grave harm. That has been proven to me a thousand times over.' Robin sighed, knowing Much's words were true. 'I'm sorry, I'm being stupid. No point in being melancholy about something I can do nothing about.'

'I promise you Much, as soon as things are more stable, and that does not necessarily mean when King Richard returns, it may be before, it may be after, we will find Eve.'

'It's just not as simple, even as that, is it Robin? But thank you all the same. Perhaps now is the time to explain how Guy came over to our side, seeing as no-one has yet explained that to me.'

'Well, I just don't know really. I suppose his acts in the Holy Land have been eating at him. Alan helped. He was standing watching as we took your arrows out, and then Alan went and had an argument, of sorts, with him, saying how he should realise the control the Sheriff has over him, and how much better he could be without him. And since then he seems to be working with us. We're meeting him at my house tomorrow evening. If you're ok.'

'Well, deary me. This is rather a thing to think. I was awake, he was the enemy, I sleep, and when I wake again, he's an ally.' Robin chuckled. 'Still, maybe we might finally be able to make some sort of progress with things. Of course, the thing about Nottingham being destroyed stops any properly hostile progress, but we might be able to come up with something all the same.'

'We need to play the Sheriff at his own game, manipulate him into a good deed.'

'We've done it before. Well, you've done it before.' Much stretched, but gasped, and put his hand to his side suddenly. 'Ouch.'

'Hurting still?,' Robin asked.

'It's more of an ache most of the time.'

'Let's get a look,' Robin said, moving in front of Much, and taking hold of his shirt.

'No, it's fine,' Much said, pulling sideways, wincing as he did it, but pulling Robin's hands off his shirt.

'No, I don't think it is,' Robin said, releasing his hands from Much's grip, pushing Much's arms to his sides. Much sighed, and rested his head back on the tree, accepting the inevitable. Robin lifted Much's shirt, revealing the bandages. They were red, blood spreading outwards from the wounds themselves. Robin gently touched them to see how wet they were, and his fingertips were wet with blood as he pulled away.

'Oh Much, are you sure you can manage this?.' Much nodded slowly.

'Yes, I'll be ok. I just don't want to go to sleep. It's probably silly, but I'm a bit worried I might not wake up.'

'So it really wasn't over. Can you last the night? It can't be long after midnight.' He looked up to the moon. 'I'll redo them,' he added.

'I've already redone them once. I just can't get myself to stop leaking,' he said, with a sad smile.

'You'll be fine, John'll get it stitched in the morning, then it'll be fine.' He walked back to the camp, and fetched bandages. He came back, and knelt in front of Much. He drew his dagger, and cut off the old bandages.

'Best burn those, I made another fire over there,' Much said, pointing a little way into the wood, where Robin saw a smouldering pile of ashes.

'How long have you been up?.'

'A few hours I suppose. John was still moving about a bit in his sleep, so I guess not long after he went to sleep. Had to change the bandages.'

'I say this in all honesty Much, I do not think you are going to die. If I thought you were, I would not feed you false hope.'

'I thought I was. I was almost certain I was. Not so much when I got shot, or in the castle even. But now, I felt like Death was waiting for me just beyond the light of the fire. Waiting for me to finally give up this bloody slog.'

'Oh Much. When did this all become just a long slog?.'

'Well, to be honest, I was meaning particularly just the slog of this bloody wound. But I suppose things have seemed a bit hopeless for a while now. Since the second time in the Holy Land I suppose. It seemed like a victory for the wrong side. Yes, we saved the King, but Marian died, Carter died, and then the King stayed behind. And we returned to England, our number halved, our dearest friends left behind, one way or another. No Will, no Djaq, no hope. Just the endless tide of guards, the Sheriff and Guy, all aiming to kill us, hurt the people we care for, and destroy our country, and its people, who we fought for.' He was silent, and Robin had halted bandaging, listening to Much. 'But then,' Much added, 'things might improve now, with Guy on our side.'

'Yes, they will. We'll make sure of it, we can't let things go on the way they are. We've got phase one accomplished, the villagers temporary health and happiness has been secured, we now need to move forward a step, and try and gain a more long term security.' A breeze was beginning to pick up, and Much shivered slightly. 'Much, you're going to make it through this. I can't guarantee that you'll be the same coming out of it as you came in, but you will make it. Come on, lets go back. But don't go to sleep,' Robin said, revealing how worried he actually was as he stood up.

'Robin, I honestly can't. You go, I'll stay here.' Robin sat back down, and put an arm round his friends shoulder.

'If you stay, I stay.' They sat in silence for some time, both slumped against the tree trunk. After a while Robin spoke again.

'Why did you not tell us your bandages needed changing? There is no point in trying to stop us from being worried.'

'Maybe you don't really, and I know you're not doing it deliberately, but you all seem to think I'm pretty useless most of the time. I mean, my fighting's not that remarkable is it, and I can't weedle like Alan can, and I'm not super strong like John. My purpose is to look after you emotionally. And other than that, you lot all need to be looking after me. And I'm afraid I do have some pride. I'm not coming and waking you up saying I need to be changed. I'm not a child. I've got just as much, more experience, than some of us, there's no reason for me to be useless.'

'Much, we don't think of you like that. Really, we don't. Maybe we joke about you being useless, but it's not true, and we know it. I know Alan and John have a lot of respect for you, they understand that in order to have survived the Holy Land, you must have been a brilliant fighter, and that is proved to them again whenever we fight, we do not think you are a bad fighter. However, whatever we really think, I can see why you would not like us mothering you. Do not think that we have been mothering you. You earnt so much honour today, what you put up with in the castle, weaker men would have given in long ago.'

'Oh no, I'm not ready to go yet. He's waiting in the dark for me yes, but that doesn't mean I'm going to heed his call.'

Robin opened his eyes. Weak, watery light was shining through the trees and there were drops of dew on his boots. He did not bother moving, just slowely let his senses awaken to what was going on around him. The birdsongs came to his ears, some leaves moved about as a fox moved into its burrow. He twiddled his fingers and toes as the feeling of coldness came rushing into them. He smiled as he felt a warmth down his side. Much had survived the night. He turned to look at him; his head was resting back on the tree trunk, his arms lay crossed between his drawn up legs and his chest. His head was still hatless, and his hair was laid about in a scruffy mess of opposing angles. Robin looked down to his wound, and gently raised Much's shirt, trying his best not to wake Much. There was a red patch of blood over the wound, but the bandages were not wet, and seemed to have held up well over night. Robint turned his gaze to the main camp. There was no movement, and the fire was not lit. Robin guessed that it was about 4:30. He looked back to Much. He looked a little troubled, the things he had discussed with Robin the night before playing through dreams. Dreams that no doubt would have been affected by the pain Robin knew he must still be in. Much's head tilted to the side, and rested on Robin's shoulder. Robin ran his hand through Much's hair, then ruffled it. He rested his head onto Much's, and drifted back to sleep.

'Robin?...Robin?' Robin opened his eyes to see Alan staring him in the face, bent over him. He startled awake, jerking forward, and looked about him.

'Where's Much?!'

'Relax, he's washing,' Alan said, gesturing towards the stream just down the hill from their camp. 'Breakfast's been around for ages, you goin' to eat today?'

'What's the time?'

'About mid morning.' Alan jumped back as Robin stood suddenly.

'Could have woken me!,' Robin said, walking towards the camp.

'Well we didn't really want to, you were fast asleep, Much said you'd stayed up late.' Robin looked down to the stream, and saw Much sitting cross legged with a rag in his hand, going about the business of washing. Robin strode towards camp, and Little John handed him a plate of food, which he hungrily began devouring. At a break between mouthfuls he asked

'Has Much eaten?'

'I gave him a plate, but he hasn't eaten much, just nibbled a bit,' John replied. He saw the worried look on Robin's face. 'But that's to be expected, it'd be bad for him to be eating too much at the moment anyway.' Robin sighed, and returned to his own food.

'When are you going to work?.'

'Well, I can't decide. I don't know what state the wounds are in. We'll have to do it though, and I suppose here's as good a place as any. I think we better get it done as soon as possible.' Alan was now down at the stream with Much, and offered a hand, helping Much to his feet. Alan pulled Much's arm round his shoulders to support him on the walk back to camp.

'How are you feeling?,' Robin asked as Much and Alan reached him and John.

'Better for being a bit cleaner,' Much said with a litle smile, then turned his eyes to the sky. 'Enough light yet?,' he asked, trying to hide his anxiety.

'If we did it in the clearing,' John replied.

'Would you mind if we got on with it John?,' Much asked, as him and Alan moved over to a tree, Alan leaving him leaning against it. John looked to Robin, who nodded.

'Yes, we can set off when you're both ready.'

'Are we going to walk or shall I get the horses?,' Alan asked Robin.

'Better ride I think, we might need to make a swift exit.' Alan walked off to fetch the horses, and John went to get the tools he would need.

'You up for this?,' Robin asked Much.

'Yep,' he replied, steely determination clear in his voice.

'When did you wake up?.'

'Bout 5 I think. Not sure.'

'Sleep well?'

'No.' Robin put down his plate, giving it a quick wipe with a cloth.

'I think you better ride with me again.'

It took then only ten minutes or so to reach their destination. I was a largish clearing in the depths of the forest, with only a few rotting tree stumps to punctuate the otherwise perfect grass. Robin dismounted, then turned to give Much a hand down. Much put a hand on Robin's shoulder, and slid off. His face was grim, and he walked slowely, without assistance, to the centre of the clearing.

'About here, John?.' Robin, Alan and John looked at eachother, then John replied.

'Yeah, that should be fine Much. Now sit down.' The three of them walked over to where he stood. 'Light a fire Alan,' John said, placing his bag on one of the tree stumps. There was something eerie about the clearing, perhaps caused by the unnatural feel of it. It made no sense for there to be such a large clearing, and yet there were no signs of human impact. It seemed fitting that they were only there out of dire need. Much sat on the ground dead centre, and began undoing his shirt. Robin began laying out a blanket for Much to lie on, but he stopped him saying:

'We'll only get it bloody, the grass is soft enough.' Robin sighed, and threw the blanket into a scruffy pile next to John's bag. Alan had lit the fire, and John was holding the needle in a flame. He then strode back to Much.

'Lie back,' he said, gently pushing Much down. Robin pulled Much's shirt and long sleeved top underneath off, and a shiver went through Much's body. John went round to the side of the wounds, and knelt down. He tested the sharpness of the needle; it brought a prick of blood to his fingertip. 'Right. Deep breaths Much.' Much nodded, then leant his head on the ground, shutting his eyes. Robin looked to John, the overhead sun shining brightly down on them. Robin seemed a little helpless at the sight of Much in such a state, as the day before. He simply stared. Alan nudged him out of the way, and undid the neat bandages Much had tied earlier. Much raised his upper body so Alan could unroll the bandages, comfortingly clean, and then rested again. John took off his coat, and rolled up his sleeves. He bent over, and gingerly touched the wound. Much winced, and John hesitated.

'No, no, go on!,' Much said. John looked down again, and pierced the skin around the smallest wound. They were still red and raw, and the light film of clotted blood that had slightly sealed them overnight was broken by the movement caused by John and the needle. A steady trickle of blood began to flow, and John sped up. Despite the increase in speed, his stitching remained neat, and he was done in minutes. Robin, standing to the right of Much's left shoulder, was struck by the contrast in the white of Much's skin, the dark green of the grass, and the bright red of his blood. He began to feel queasy as he looked into the wounds, the gaping holes in his friend's chest. He drew into himself, he didn't hear Alan's cheery comment as they moved onto the second wound. He began to hear screams. Much's screams from the day before, and the screams of the Holy Land, scenes of battle flashed before his eyes; him and Much hacking at foes, then walking the field of battle afterwards, Much nursing his own wound after the attack by the Black Knights. He felt a wave of nausea as his eyes returned to the present. Much was still concious, wringing his hands and gritting his teeth, his eyes tightly shut. Alan was looking away, and John was looking angry. His hands were red and wet with blood, but he was tieing the final knot in the final wound.

'Done,' he said, cutting the thread. Alan passed him a water container, and he poured water over his hands first, then Much's chest. Robin, finally realising that he should be doing something, took a rag from John's bag, and knelt down to wipe the blood away. They then all heard a noise from the edge of the clearing, about 150 metres from them. They all snapped their heads up to see, the noise having come from about opposite them. Robin, John and Alan automatically reached for their weapons.

'Better check it out,' Robin said, and Alan stood and walked towards the edge. John stood up and watered the fire, then fetched some bandages from his bag.

'Alright?,' Robin asked Much, still kneeling over him, ignoring the goings on in the other areas of the clearing.

'Yes. Alright,' Much said, opening his eyes, and staring above him. The sun had passed over, and it waas not so hot in the clearing. 'Heard things though.' A stab went through Robin.

'Me too. Too similar. Brought it back. The sun, the heat, the open.'

'I heard them screaming, saw them crawling. It's over now though. All of it. What's going on?.' Robin shook off his thoughts, and said

'Oh, we heard something, Alan's gone to check.' Alan was looking around in the woods, then knelt down and picked something up. He came striding back over, and handed something to Robin. It was a scrap of light blue cloth, which had obviously been torn from a garment.

'Odd, I don't recognise the cloth, I don't think it's anyone's uniform,' Robin said. Much pushed himself onto his elbows with a wince, and plucked the cloth from Robin's offering hand.

'Looks vaguely familiar, just because it's a popular colour though probably.' He gave it to John, who looked at it, then pocketed it, pulling his coat on.

'Shall we get going then?,' Much asked, still leaning on his elbows, but making efforts to sit up a bit more.

'No, not yet, you need to rest a bit, and I need to bandage.'

'Can we just get out of this bloody clearing then please?,' Much asked, looking uneasily about him. Robin jumped to his support.

'Yes, let's get out. It's not safe, too obvious.' Alan and John exchanged puzzled looks.

'Robin, there's no one about for miles.'

'That's what we thought, but what just happened?,' Robin said, standing up and pulling Much to his feet. Much put his arm round Robin's shoulders, and Robin put his arm round Much's waist, and they walked slowely off, Much rather weak. As they passed the horses, Robin grabbed the reins of his liver bay mare. John and Alan looked after them for a minute, then picked up their kit and followed. After they got a few metres within the tree-line, Robin put Much down, and they all sat down in a circle. Much took a deep breath, and touched his side.

'How long will it take to heal properly?,' he asked.

'A good while. At least a few weeks.'

'Looks like I'll be on camp duty for a while then,' Much said, with a sigh.

'No, we can't make any plans of movements until we've spoken to Gisbourne. I've no idea what level of commitment he'll be at, but we need to try and get as much out of him as possible,' Robin said. Much put his hand out, and John passed him the bandages. Robin shuffled up to him and started putting them on. There was still a small trickle of blood from the edge of the largest wound, but otherwise the two sides of each wound had been neatly sewn together, with a thin black thread.

'Hang on,' John said, turning to root round in his bag. He passed Robin a little leather pouch. Robin undid it, and took out three thick, chunky leaves. Crushing them between his fingers, he slowely wiped them across Much's wounds.

'Ouch!,' Much said. 'Stings,' he added. He let out a sigh though, as the cooling affect of the leaves began to kick in. 'Are we going to wait here for awhile then?'

'I think that'd be a good idea. The weather's holding up.' They looked out into the clearing, the sun was still beating down.

'Anything that needs doing today?,' Much asked.

'Um, maybe. A delivery to Bonchurch,' Robin said, slightly regretting the location.

'Well, you fellows can go on if you want, I can get home by myself.' The other three looked at eachother and rolled their eyes.

'Much, you can't get rid of us that easily,' Alan said. Much was gazing at the floor to his right.

'Sorry,' said, absent-mindedly. There wasn't much they could do, so John waslked off for a bit to do a patrol, they didn't feel like letting their guard down after the sighting in the clearing, and as Much fell into a surprisingly deep sleep, Alan and Robin stood up and walked a few feet away to have a quiet conversation.

'Bit jaded, eh?,' Alan said, nodding his head towards Much.

'Yeah. I think we just need to make sure he takes it easy. Don't know how well we'll be able to work until he's fully better, but I guess we're going to have to wait an see what Guy has to say.' He stood with crossed arms, looking at the ground a few feet in front of him. Alan waited a bit awkwardly for Robin to say something else, then ventured to talk himself.

'You alright?'

'I've been better,' Robin said with a sigh, turning to look at Alan again. Alan paused, licked his lips then swallowed, and said:

'Thanks, Robin. Thanks for giving Guy a chance. I really think we could make something of him.'

'Well, we'll just have to wait and see. But I'm learning not to think of things with such a black and white philosophy. Something I've learnt through you.' Alan laughed a small chuckle.

'Just, thanks Robin.'

They returned to camp late in the day, after an uneventful afternoon, spent doing nothing much. Robin, John and Alan had eaten a rathre vague form of lunch, but Much had not wanted anything. When they reached camp, Alan saw to the horses, and John began cooking a piece of boar. Robin helped Much, who despite sleeping almost all afternoon, was still very weak, then returned to Alan and John to eat supper.

'I think we better make those deliveries, but I don't know whether it's okay to leave him, what do you think John?' Robin said, after they'd eaten.

'It depends what reason you're worrying for. He's in a stable condition now. But if anything happened, I doubt he'd be able to properly defend himself.' Robin sighed.

'Look, no-one knows where the camp is,' Alan said, 'with the possible exception of course of the Sheriff. But it's unlikely that anyone's going to bother doing anything, especially when Guy might be working to keep them out our way anyway.' Robin paused, and looked over his shoulder to where Much was slumped on his back on his bed.

'Okay, we three'll have to go, but we'll do one each, so we won't be out for long. Leave Much with his bow and a good supply of arrows, and aim to be back at least before dark.'

'Right,' Alan and John said in unison.

'Get the horses, I'll brief Much.' Robin went over to Much, and Alan and John went to fetch three of their horses, who were kept in a tied off area of the wood a hundred metres or so from the actual camp. 'Much?,' he said, nudging Much in the shoulder. Much rolled away from him, whispering something, which Robin didn't hear properly, but might have been 'Eve'. 'Much?,' he repeated, a little louder, and Much jerked awake, turning to face him. 'Much, we're going to have to go out. I'm sorry. We've got deliveries in Bonchurch, but we'll be back before dark.'

'Okay, good, I'll see you later,'Much said, sitting up on his bed, swinging his legs over the edge, and beginning to stand up.

'No, you rest here, we'll shut the roof, and there's food is you want anything.' Robin noticed a slight cringe on Much's brow at the word 'food'. 'Not hungry?.'

'Sorry, not really. Too exhausted. Thirsty though.' Much put one hand on Robin's shoulder, and grabbed the timbers over his bed with the other, and pulled himself to his feet. He walked slowely over to the kitchen area, and took a drink of water, leaning one arm on the timbers.

'You going to be all right then?,' Robin asked, putting his bow over his back.

'Oh yeah, I'll be fine. I'll see you all later then.'

'Yeah, we shouldn't be too long, but don't do anything if we're a bit longer.'

'Okay.' Alan and John were waiting just outside the roof/door of the camp, holding the horses.

'Bye then! Have fun!,' Much said, waving as Robin mounted. The three of them trotted off, and as Robin looked back, he saw that Much was shutting the roof.


	3. Chapter 3

'Okay, we separate, you to Mrs Rogers, Alan, John take the Marshes, and I'll go to Katie

'Okay, we separate, you to Mrs Rogers, Alan, John take the Marshes, and I'll go to Katie. Come back here when you've finished, and try and be quick,' Robin said. They were just in the tree cover surrounding the hamlet of Bonchurch, having taken about half an hour to arrive. The cloud cover was increasing, and the shadows were lengthening. They parted ways, and Robin trotted his horse down the road to the left of the hamlet, passing the house that had been and would be Much's. A light shone in one of the upper storey windows, Robin wondered who the Sheriff had put there as Much's replacement. He dismounted outside a little thatched cottage. There was smoke coming from the chimney, and he could see light shining from behind the shutters. He knocked on the door and waited for a reply. Out of the habit of companionship, him and Much usually made deliveries together, especially since Marion's departure. Robin didn't appreciate being on his own entirely since then, especially in the dark. Her death had added to the dark thoughts that would seep into his mind if he allowed the slightest weakness in his mind. The fear of them overtaking him forced Robin to concentrate on the house again. He listened carefully for the voices, and heard someone stirring. The bolt on the door was undone, and little Katie Martin's head peered round the door.

'Oh, Robin! We didn't think you were coming!,' she said. 'It's okay!,' she said back into the house, and her three children, two were her own, the third, a little girl Annabelle, was the daughter of her sister, who had died when Robin and Much were in the Holy Land.

'Sorry I'm late, we've had a rather evntful day.'

'Oh, no problem at all, come in,' Katie said. Katie was in the mid-30s, she had served in the castle in the days of Marion's father.

'I can't stay long, it's getting dark.'

'Since when has that been a problem for you lads?,' she joked. She then seemed to notice something, and a look of surprised worry came to her face. 'Where's Much?' Robin gav her an equally worried look.

'He's had an accident.' She gasped. Few people in the parts seemed to have known Much in his youth, or any of his family, even Robin did not know as much as he would like. All he knew about Much's childhood was that he spent an awful lot of time at Robin and his father's house, he was Robin's best friend throughout their youth, they had always played together, but Robin didn't actually recall seeing Much's own home. One of the theories was that he was an orphan. But what Robin did know was the Katie had a long history with Much, and had known him perhaps even as long as Robin.

'Oh god, nothing serious?,' she asked, her voice shaking a little.

'I'd rather not talk about it Kate,' Robin said, turning away. 'I think I better be going.' He took hold of her hand and put a bag, which contained some coins, a loaf of bread, and some wrapped ham, in it. He turned to the door without another word, and opened it, striding quickly out to his horse and mounting in a clean leap. He nodded farewell to her, and turned his horse, cantering off. He raised an arm back to her in a wave. She stood at the door, her children gathered about her, tears gathering in her eyes. She slammed the door shut and ran to her bed, burrying her head in the pillow, tears steadily flowing from her eyes, and multiple sobs escaping her throat.

Robin was too far away to hear her anguished sobs, but came back to a walk as he reached their meeting point. He was the first to reach it, and halted his horse, leaning forward on it's neck, and rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. He wondered if he'd done the right thing in not giving her the details, from a personal and village morale perspective. Maybe he should have told her all, but it seemed that he couldn't think of it in a good light, he looked worse as a leader as a result, it made the Sheriff seem the stronger of the two. But surely it would have been better than them not knowing whether he was dead or alive. But he really wasn't sure whether he could talk about it, there was a lump in his throat at the thought of Much, lieing nearly dead on the ground in the mud, with arows sticking from his chest. Robn shook his head, as a similar image came to his head, of Marion lying on the ground in the sand, with a sword sticking from her torso. He didn't know what was happening to him. In the space of barely three months, he had lost his beloved wife, and even though it could not really be his fault, he felt to blame for it. And then months later, through a mistake that was only his own to make, he had nearly killed his dearest friend. He was taking too many risks that weren't his own to take. Why should he assume the loyalty of his now few friends when he threw away there lives so easily?

'All right Robin?.' Robin jerked out of his thoughts, and sat up in the saddle again as Alan spoke to him.

'Thinking,' he said.

'Ah,' Alan said. 'Bad for you, too much thinking.'

'For once, I'd agree with you on that Alan.' They sat in silence for a minute, Robin staring at his horses right ear, and Alan looking to the few stars that managed to shine through the now thick cloud cover. The last flickers of light were shining through, and dusk was quickly drawing in. There wasn't any chance of them being back at camp before dark.

'They were asking how everything was,' Alan said. 'I didn't tell them about Much.'

'Good, I think that's the best for now. Until he's well enough to come out again.' They heard hooves, and turned to see John trotting towards them.

'Sorry to be so long, the child's got colic, I didn't want to leave them.'

'Good, do you think he'll be alright?'

'Yes, I gave him some herbs, he threw up, and things seem to have calmed down.'

'Okay, let's go.' They turned their horses back and cantered home.

It was almost pitch black by the time they reached the depths of the forest where their camp was located. They came down to a walk as they drew closer. Something caught Robin's eye, and he walked forwards to the tree. Panic swept through his body when he realised it was an arrow sticking out of the tree. The fletching told him that it was one of theirs. His head snapped round towards the camp. The door was shut, but Robin could has sworn he saw something, or rather someone, lying on the floor in front of it. The person sat up when they realised Robin, John and Alan were there.

'Robin?!,' came a scared call from Much, the person lying on the floor. Robin spurred his horse into a canter, stopping abruptly about a foot away from Much, and jumped off, kneeling at Much's side.

'Robin, there was somone there, I swear there was someone there, there was someone, I saw them,' Much said, quickly before Robin could get any words out.

'Much, calm down,' he said, comfortingly. 'Are you hurt?.'

'Not any more than before, but there was someone there Robin, I swear on my life there was someone coming to the camp.'

'Ssh Much, you'll hurt yourself!.' Alan and John had dismounted too, and knelt next to Robin. Much had his bow in his hand, and there was an arrow lying on the ground next to him. 'When was this?'

'Oh, I don't know, maybe a quarter of a hour ago, longer perhaps, maybe less. Not that long ago.' Much was breathing quite fast, dressed in his trousers, boots, and only his long sleeved top on top.

'Okay, lie back now,' Robin said, pushing Much back onto the slope leading up to the door of the camp. He put his hand to Much's forehead, which was quite hot. 'Did they hear you, see you, was the camp open?.' Much gulped, took a deep breath, and began.

'No, I don't think they saw me in detail. And the camp was shut. I came out to wash as per usual, having slept for a bit, taking my bow and shutting the door behind me. Was just washing when the horses neighed a bit. I looked over, didn't think too much of it. But as I looked back there was something in the corner of my eye. There was someone behind Jenny, she was skitting about, and then whoever it was moved off behind the trees. I stayed where I was, knocked an arrow. I lost track of them, then there was a splash in the water just up from me, behind me, towards where you came from. Then they came clearly, I say they, I don't know how many there were, I only saw one at a time, but there might have been three, might have been one, I just don't know. Anyway, they came clearly towards me, and I fired the shot, re-knocked, knew it'd missed, so fired another a bit closer, and they turned and walked off. I thought I heard a noise of some sort from them, but it wasn't a recognisable noise or anything.'

'Okay, don't worry, we're back now. It's fine,' Robin said. What Much had said the night before about Death waiting for him came back into his head, but he shrugged it off, he knew better than to doubt Much's word. It just helped to explain why Much was unusually shaken. John had walked off to take a look around, taking the horses back to examine where they were kept, where Much had said he'd seen someone. Alan opened the camp, and re-lit the fire.

'I thought it'd be best to let it die with only me in,' Much said, turning his head to where Alan was working.

'Yeah, good idea mate,' Alan said, cracking his flints together. He reached for a torch, then lit it, and walked over to John. Robin and Much followed him with their gaze, but then Robin turned back to Much.

'Are you all right? Honestly?'

'Yes, just worried. Really worried in fact. It's probably nothing, I just don't really want to...to. Well, you know what I mean.' Surprisingly, Robin did know.

'Robin,' John called. Robin stood up and walked over to John. John pointed at pile of horse dung that was now under Jenny. Jenny was Much's horse, a dun mare he'd 'borrowed' on a permanent basis from Guy's stables the month before. They had been making a delivery in the town when Guy's soldiers had the audacity to shoot Much's horse from beneath him, something they had not tried before, much to Much's horror. So he went and got a new one. Robin put a hand on her flanks to move her, and bent down to see the muck. There was a clear footprint in it. Not a particularly large one, but a footprint all the same. Robin felt a strange wave of relief pass over him.

'Well, he was right then.' They walked back to the camp, where Much was still lying, his eyes tightly shut, a frown on his face. He opened his eyes as they drew near.

'We found a print, but any more examination will have to wait till the morning, when we've got a bit more light.,' Robin said. Much nodded his head, and turned over, to push himself up. Robin took one of his shoulders to hold him still, and put his hand to Much's forehead again. It was cooling down, but he looked very pale in the light of the fire. They sat by the fire again, and John turned to the kitchen, picking something up from behind the cooking range. He turned to Much.

'Eat this,' he said, thrusting a carrot into Much's hand. Much looked remarkably crestfallen. 'Doesn't matter if you can't manage the whole thing, just gnaw on it a bit.' They chuckled at the site of Much trying to get out of eating.

'On a serious note,' Robin said after a few minutes silence, as they were all deep in their own thoughts. 'We need to start facing this problem head on. We're being followed, that's clear enough. The person at the clearing is likely to be the same person Much saw tonight. Do you know if you hit the person?.'

'I can't be sure, the second one may well have.'

'Right. We need to consider the camp's integrity. Guy may have known something about this. We need also to consider that it may be him who is following us.' Alan let out a noise of disapproval, but was interrupted by Robin. 'I'm sorry Alan, but we have to consider all the possibilities. We'll keep a watch tonight, I'll go first, then Alan, then John.' Much raised a hand, the one in which he held his carrot. 'No Much, do you really think I'm going to let you sit up all night?'

'Thought I might give it a try anyway.' He returned to gnawing away at his carrot, taking tiny little bites.

'No fire tonight, in case, and tomorrow we'll go looking for more evidence.' They nodded agreement, and then Robin opened the camp door. Alan and John went out for last minute necessities (facilities) and Robin settled himself on the hill just outside the door, a good vantage point for the surrounding wood.

'Did you believe me Robin?,' Much said to him, quietly. Robin hesitated, then said

'Yes. Yes, I did believe you. Maybe not for a moment, but it was a moment that passed very quickly. Don't take that badly though, I myself hardly know what I'm doing.'

'No, I wouldn't. Deliveries go alright?' Robin hesitated again.

'Yes, fine.' He decided not to mention what had passed between him and Katie. 'The Marshe's son's got colic, John had to help, that's why we were late.'

'Ah, poor lad, he going to be alright?'

'Yes, John thinks he'll pull through.'

'Oh good, I don't think they'd cope with another lost child.' The Marshes elder son Bertrand had gone missing several weeks ago, and no news had been heard of him.

'No,' Robin said, absent-mindedly. John and Alan returned, and settled into their beds.

'Night then lads!,' Robin said.

'Night!,' they replied, as Robin shut the door.

'Ah! Gisbourne! Just who I was looking for!' The Sheriff greeted Guy as he walked into the Sheriff's personal chambers. 'Any news? Any news?,' he said, rubbing his hands. Guy glanced quickly about the room. The bed covers were messy, there was someone in them still, and the Sheriff was dressed only in a robe. 'Come on Guy, come on, I don't think you're really her type, leave her to me.'

'Sorry, sir,' Guy said, distracted.

'News? Anyone alive in there?,' the Sheriff said, knocking his fist against Guy's skull.

'Yes, news, there's news,' Guy said, drawing his eyes away from the bed, and his mind back to the present. 'Hood and his men made deliveries last night, minus the one they call Much. Hood is reported to say that Much had "an accident", and that he didn't want to talk about it.'

'Oh good, jolly good! A pity they got away, but their location hardly makes a difference now. How did you pick up this information?.'

'He spoke to one of the local women, and it's now common news amongst the townsfolk.'

'Splendid! A good morale dampener! Lovely! How long has it been? Quite a while now, you think the poison will have worked by now?.' Guy had not told the Sheriff the details of what had gone on in the hall, all he knew was that Robin and his men had overpowered the guards, and fled on their horses.

'Yes, probably just about. He may be drawing his last breaths at this very moment.' Guy could have sworn he heard a sob from the bed, but shook it off when he noticed the Sheriff was staring at him expectantly.

'Sorry, what did you say?,' he asked, feeling foolish.

'Really Guy. I would let you have her, but she's a special one. Particular to me, I want her just for myself.' He gestured to servants waiting at the door, then pulled Guy to the other side of the room, facing the window. 'What we need to do now is draw Hood in. I'll be working on something, in the meantime ensure that the news is spread far and wide that we enflicted a slow and exceedingly painful death on Robin Hood's most faithful friend. Hood's probably in pieces, especially after what you did to Marion as well!,' the Sheriff continued, gleefully. Guy looked away suddenly at the mention of Marion, especially what he did to her. He saw the woman from the bed being lead out of the room, hands tied behind her back, and he saw a rope round her honey coloured hair, which must have meant they had gagged her too. When the Sheriff heard the door shut, he turned back round again. 'Do run along now Guy, you're not being very useful today, try and pull your thumb out by tomorrow, otherwise I'm going to have to advertise for a new sidekick!.' He pushed Guy out the door, and slammed it in his face. Guy groaned a snarl in his throat, and turned away, just in time to see a swish of light blue material between the two guards being led down one of the narrow corridors that led to the maintenance areas of the castle.

'It was here somewhere, I'm sure!,' Much said, nibbling another carrot.

'Here somewhere is quite a large area Much!,' Alan said, the first hint of frustration showing in his voice. They were where Much thought he must have fired the shots the night before. They had already found the arrow stuck in the tree, and were now just trying to find the shot which Much thought might have hit its target.

'Found it!,' John shouted, from a good way away from them. Alan ran over, but Robin hung back. Much was still very weak, having eaten only half a carrot in a day and a half, and his body still not nearly having recovered from the amount of blood he had lost. His bandages had been changed that morning, and were found to be slightly bloody, but not half as bad as Robin had been dreading. They walked over to where John was, and he held up one of Much's arrows. Much took it, and examined the tip.

'It's bloody,' he said, passing it to Robin and Alan. There was a dried trickle of blood down the shaft, and the point was covered in dried blood on one side.

'Look's like it's caught them and slid past,' Robin said. Much nodded. 'Pretty good shooting considering the dark and your health!,' Robin said, patting Much on the back.

'We'd have something to recognise them by now, if we happen to notice anyone we suspect,' Much said. The others gave various grunts of agreement. Much took a large, crunchy bite from his carrot. They all looked down at the arrow, all imagining different pictures of the person who could be watching them at that very moment.

Guy walked into his bedroom, and sat on the bed heavily, with a sigh. The evening was drawing in, and there was still no sign of Hood. He wondered if the rumours were true, and Much really had died. He rubbed his eyes with another deep sigh. He stood, and went to the window, leaning his arm on the top of the window frame, and resting his head against it, looking towards the road leading into Loxley. There was no movement. He turned back to the room, the walls draped in black cloth with the emblem of the Gisbourne family, a stand hlding his battle armour in one corner. And yet it was obviously not his room. Something he had discovered recently ate away at him. He had been lying awake in his bed in the early morning, unable to sleep, a constant montage of scenes from his life playing through his mind, when something on the left top corner timber of the four poster bed caught his attention. H had squinted, then sat up. He leaned closer, and read 'Robin & Marion' in a small heart, in an uneven carve. From Robin's youth perhaps. Robin had never moved into his fathers room, and for simplicities sake, Guy had not bothered changing sleeping arrangements. He looked back towards the window, and was met by Robin.

'Hello Guy,' Robin said. Robin had his sword in his hand, and Guy quickly glanced back to his bed, where his own sword lay. 'Fear not, I have come to talk, not to kill,' Robin said. Guy visibly relaxed. 'My men are below, we will talk in the dining hall,' Robin ordered. Guy moved straight to the door, and ordered his guards to leave. They left through the door, and then Alan, John and Much came in, John walking right next to Much, offering him discrete support. They did not speak, but followed Guy with their eyes. He bowed his head, and locked the doors of the hall. Robin had followed him into the room.

'Food?,' Guy asked, turning to Robin.

'No thank you, we've eaten.' Guy turned to Much.

'How are you?.' Much hesitated, glancing at his friends, before answering.

'As good as can be expected thank you.' Robin took a seat, and the other three followed his suit. Guy looked on for a moment, then took a seat on the opposite side of the table to them.

'I don't really know where to start,' he said. 'I can't begin to apologise,' he started, before Robin interrupted.

'Guy, there is no point in trying to cover that ground. We all know the pain you have inflicted on us over the years, particularly the past few months, and of course the occurances of the last day or two. But I recognise the look in your eye. I know you feel the same pain as I, in fact I can only imagine the pain you feel. You are responsible directly for the death of the only thing that kept you sane. The thing you lived for. The thing I lived for. There is no way we can properly express the feelings we have deep in our souls. All I can say is that this is what she would have wanted. You're doing the right thing, she would have wanted you to help. To resist the temptation of superficial power.' Guy bowed his head, and shook it. 'What we need to discuss today is the here and now.' Guy nodded, and looked up to Robin. There he saw the look of sorrow reflected in Robin's face, and he knew that he was doing the right thing.

'The Sheriff is delighted. The whole county thinks you are dead,' Guy said, motioning to Much, 'and that Robin Hood will be broken down, and that the Sheriff's triumph will shortly follow.' Much looked surprised at the news that he was dead to the county, and turned his head questioningly to Robin.

'We haven't seen anyone since when you saw people last night. News travels fast,' he said to Guy.

'Well, I only heard this morning. I almost believed it.'

'If he'd been a bit less resolute they wouldn't be wrong,' John said, a slight snarl to his voice. John had always found it hard to be objective about the people he saw as the 'bad guys' in their story. Reconciling the Guy who had killed Marion with his sword, and ensured Much was hit by multiple poisoned arrows and nearly killed with the man who sat before him now was not easy, despite how elemental he was to their escape from the castle. Alan was a little uncomfortable, the change of sides was hard for him in that he had so recently been part of the side that Guy was abandoning. He was pleased though, happy that he had been part of the cure. Much was looking at Robin, he could see the distress Robin was in on the inside, having to stare the killer of his wife in the eye, and befriend him.

'There are no plans as yet, as far as I have been told.'

'Are you still in the Sheriff's trust?,' Robin asked.

'Trust?!,' Guy asked with a sarcastic laugh. 'I was never in his trust! But from a simple need to not do work himself, yes, in a way I am in his trust, in that he gives me orders and knows I will follow them. In simple terms, if he wants something doing, I'm the one who will be doing it. So I'd know if he had something going on now. You said you saw someone though?.'

'Yes, is that anything to do with you? Someone was at the camp last night while we three were out. We don't know how many there were, but Much injured one with an arrow.'

'No, I don't think that's us, and none of my men are injured. It can't be us.'

'If you think so. But earlier in the day someone had been watching us too. We were in the clearing in the forest so John could stitch Much, and we heard something. We didn't find or see anyone, but we did find this piece of cloth,' Robin said, handing the cloth to Guy, who took it in his hand and closely examined it. He knew he'd seen in somewhere, then it clicked in his mind.

'There was a woman in the Sheriff's bed this morning. She wore this colour,' he handed the cloth back to Robin. 'She seemed upset when I mentioned about Much.'

'Did you see her face?,' Robin asked.

'No, but they took her away tied and gagged. Lightish hair.' A thought flashed through the back of Robin's mind, of Katie's reaction to him telling her about Much the night before.

'You didn't hear her voice?.'

'No, just the sob.' Robin sighed.

'Is there anything else you know?.'

'The Sheriff is currently plan-less on the larger scale, he is still recovering.' Guy did to want to mention the Holy Land by name. 'He's trying to gather his allies about him again, but systems are still in a weak state. I'm afraid though, that despite this, I can see nothing immediately that you can do to stop him. Continuing your current work will be simple, but there is no way of overthrowing the Sheriff at the moment, unless you were to overthrow the Prince.' Robin nodded.

'We need to keep this up. Perhaps a regular meeting. We no longer have any way of gaining information from within the castle,' Robin also did not want to mention why, 'and we need information. If we could meet again in a day or two, we aren't in any state to do anything ourselves at the moment.'

'Certainly, name a time and place,' Guy said immediately.

'Meet us at the crossroads again, tomorrow perhaps.'

'Of course, I'll assume during the day this time?'

'Yes, midday.'

'Certainly, anything else I can do for you?'

'No, I think we are sorted for the moment. Take good care of my house.'

'Of course.' They were just standing when Much suddenly turned back to Guy.

'What about the man who shot me?' Robin and the others turned too, and sat again, looking as if they were silly to have forgotten.

'Ah. He is from the East Indies, a mercenary of sorts. The Sheriff and him seem to have had private correspondence, when we returned..returned from the Holy Land, he was at the castle waiting for us. I think the Sheriff intended to use him to kill the King, but he was too late, so he has adapted his use of him.'

'Where is he now?,' Much asked.

'He is still in residence in the castle. The Sheriff's personal guest. I don't know if he intends to leave.'

'Keep him there, I don't want him active,' said Robin. They stood again, and Guy offered his hand. Robin took it first, then Much, shook it, the John, with a grim look, and finally Alan.

'Wouldn't have thought we were in this situation a few months ago, eh Guy?,' he said, heartily shaking Guy's hand.

'No..no we wouldn't,' Guy said, shaking his head. When the other three had left the room, Alan leant in and said

'Well done mate, this is a really good thing. I am obliged to do this though,' he said as he put his other hand into a fist and gave Guy an almighty punch in the jaw, which pushed him back and he fell against the wall. 'That, my friend, is for putting my best friend through unbelievable pain and nearly killing him. See yah!.' With that, Alan walked from the room.Guy sat up, and rubbed his jaw.

'What was that?,' Much asked, as Alan joined them at the horses.

'Ah, just catching up,' Alan said, looking back to the door of the house, as Guy came to stand at it. He climbed into the saddle, and kicked his horse into a brisk trot to catch up with the others. Guy watched from his horsestep, his jaw still aching, and it took him a moment to recognise the dun horse that Much was riding off on. He almost shouted, then decided against it, and turned back into his house.

'I think it was Katie,' Robin said, when they had left the village of Loxley. They were only walking so that it wasn't too strenuous for Much. All the same, on hearing Robin, he pulled Jenny to a halt, and his mouth hung open.

'Why on earth?! How can you say that! Kate is more loyal than me!,' Much said. It was a clear statement, no-one could ever question Much's loyalty. 'Robin! I think you're clutching at straws here. Why would she?'

'I don't know Much. But she knew before everyone else, and she couldn't have spread that about the villages on her own. Word doesn't travel that fast.'

'But she would have already known by the time you talked to her.'

'Exactly, an extra boost to the speed it spread at.'

'But I'm not dead,' Much said quietly, and sadly. Robin sighed.

'I know Much,' he said, in a similar tone of voice to Much's. 'But she might not have realised. Or she might have just said it anyway. She worked in the castle, she might still be, just without us knowing.' Much was still just sitting, Jenny nickered and turned to poke Much's knee.

'Robin...Katie?,' he said.

'Maybe. I think we need to consider it. That footprint was small.'

'How can she have been in two places at once?!,' Much said, sudden inspiration coming to him. Robin remembered the timing of the last evenings events.

'She could have cut across, and we were waiting for a good while for John.'

'I still don't think it can have been her.'

'I think she should just consider it.' Robin looked at the other two, who gave signs of agreement.

'Fine.' Much squeezed Jenny into a walk, and she was over zealous and trotted, her energy from the last few days pent up. Much trotted between them, and ahead, into the wood.

'Much!,' Robin called, cantering to catch up. 'Much!,' he said, reaching the dun and holding her reins. Jenny slowed to a walk, but Much wouldn't meet Robin's gaze.

'I'm sorry Robin. But you're telling me that you think my oldest, dearest friends has been sleeping with the man who the day before tried to kill me. How am I expected to react?.'

'Don't be sorry, you have nothing to be sorry for. I'm sorry, I just think we should check,' Robin said. He smiled. 'And I thought I was your oldest, dearest friend?'

'Oh shut up Robin!,' Much said, a little lighter, giving Robin a push. 'You know what I mean. She's known me, well, nevermind.' Robin looked a bit puzzled, then shrugged it off.

'You feel up to going tonight?.' Much looked away, and ran his hand through his hair, removing his hat.

'Fine.' He turned Jenny towards the Bonchurch road. John and Alan had been hanging back whilst Robin and Much had been talking, but caught up as they all trotted towards Bonchurch.

As they reached Katies house, Robin dismounted, and tied his horse to the fence. John and Alan dismounted too, and did likewise, but Much hung back. Robin knocked on the door. The door was opened, and one of the children appeared, with red eyes.

'Hello Tom, is mummy in?,' Robin asked, leaning on his knees. The child nodded his head. 'Can you go and fetch her for us please?' The child nodded again, and disappeared into the house, shutting the door behind. 'Great,' Robin said sarcastically. A moment later the door opened again, and Katie was facing them.

'Robin,' she said quietly. She had obviously been crying, her eyes were red, and her voice was a little shakey. 'John, Alan. I've just been hearing details. Would you like to come in?' Robin sighed, and pulled himself up.

'Katie, where were you this morning?' She gave him a confused look.

'Here, why? Well, I was in the hamlet, I was over at the Marshes helping with their son.'

'Katie...I have reason to believe that you might have been...feeding information to the Sheriff of Nottingham.' She looked completely gob-smacked, and then slapped Robin hard on the cheek.

'How dare you?! How DARE you!,' she shouted. She moved forward to hit Robin again, and slapped him on the other cheek. She went to slap again, but John moved forward and gently held her back. 'What the HELL do you think gives you the right to accuse me of such things! Can you not SEE I'm falling apart here?!' Tom moved forward to hold her by the leg, she pulled her arm free of John and gently pushed him back. 'Go inside Tom.' Tom stepped back, but didn't go inside, he looked further outside. 'Damn you Robin! How could you?' She broke down in tears, and fell to the floor, curling up, holding her head in her hands.

'Uncle!,' Tom shouted, pointing out of the garden, beyond the fence. It was so dark Katie had not noticed the dun mare standing beyond the garden. Much jumped off Jenny, and ran forward to Katie, kneeling down in front of her and pulling her into his arms.

'Katie, Katie please,' he said. She drew her breath and pulled back, slapping him in the face.

'Much! Don't...how could you?!.' She broke down again, falling back into Much's arms. Tom ran back into the house, shouting

'Uncle Much is back!,' over and over again.

'I thought you were dead, Robin said, and then everyone was saying,' she said breathily, taking huge gasping breaths between words. 'What happened?,' she asked, slowing down a little.

'Too much to explain now, can we go inside?,' Much asked.

'Yes, yes, come on in,' she stood, and was surprised when John came forward to help Much up. John supported Much, and took him inside, Katie following, shock and worry still apparent on her face. The children moved out of the way, mouths open at Little John, and the sight of Much being nearly carried into their house. 'Over here,' Katie said, moving her sewing off her bed. John moved over, and sat Much down on the bed. Katie knelt in front of him, and took his hands, standing up and kissing him on the cheek before she knelt down again. She moved very fast, and it was clear she was far from recovering from her various frights. Much sat for a moment with his eyes shut, catching his breath. Katie had left the door open, but Robin hesitated before walking just inside the door. He looked rather sheepish, and Alan walked in and stood just behind John.

'What's happened?,' Katie said, making a conscious effort to calm down.

'A lot. It's all happened in what feels like a short amount of time,' Much said, even though for Robin it had seemed to take all too long an amount of time. 'On, um..' He was still trying to catch his breath, he took one of his hands from Katie's and held his side over his wounds. Katie let go of his other hand, and moved his hand from his side. She pulled up his shirt, and gasped when she saw the wounds.

'It's fine, it's fine Kate,' Much said. 'Thanks to John,' he smiled at John. 'I got shot a few times the day before yesterday. But it's fine now.' Katie moved onto the bed and pulled Much into a hug. Much put one arm around her, pulling her tight, and held his side with the other one. 'Katie, it's fine, really.'

'Katie, I'm sorry,' Robin said, moving forward. Katie gave him a scowl, ignoring what he'd said. 'Katie, please, let me explain myself.' She turned, and sat on the bed next to Much. She put her hand on his forehead, checking temperature, and then ran her hand through his hair. Much leaned against her, and she spoke to Robin.

'Go on then.' Robin started by explaining everything that had happened since he had recieved the note from the Sheriff, up to the moment when he voiced his concerns about Katie and Much had disagreed, and then gave her the same reasons for thinking so that he had given Much. She frowned throughout, and told the children to cover their ears for the points when Robin explained Much's wounds.

'I'm sorry Robin, but I really don't see how that makes me seem the most obvious option.'

'I know Kate, I'm sorry, I can't say that enough. But I'm at my wits ends here, someone's trying to kill him, and I can't do anything about it. I let this happen to him in the first place, it was MY fault, and then I go and leave him to fend for himself again, and someone comes to the camp.'

'It wasn't your fault Robin,' Much said, as soon as Robin had stopped speaking. 'It was as much your fault as mine, as anyone elses! We could all be to blame if we used your logic Robin.' Robin shook his head, then looked at the ground, before looking back up at Much and Katie.

'But that's not the point Much, it FEELS like it's my fault. I can't get anything right anymore. I'm falling apart. I'm losing it. I nearly let you die Much!.' Much stood, and strode towards Robin, pulling him into a strong hug.

'I will NOT let you say that. It's not true. You don't need this, don't do it to yourself.' Robin hugged back, and leaned his head onto Much's shoulder.

'I'm sorry. So sorry.'

'Don't be, please.' Much stood back, and smiled at Robin, whose eyes were glazing over with tears. He turned to John and Alan.

'I'm sorry boys. I'm just..' John walked forward and hugged him, lifting him off the ground, before putting him down. Alan hesitated a moment, then moved and gave Robin a deeply sincere hug.

'Robin, you got to understand, we don't mindlessly follow you,' Alan said. 'If we thought you weren't the best possible person to lead us, frankly, we wouldn't follow you. Well, Much would,' he added, with a smile. Robin smiled, and ran both his hands through his hair. He turned back to Much, and gently pushed him back into sitting.

'I'm sorry, it's hard. I don't need to tell you that. I just need to get my head back into this.'

'Look, don't worry Robin, I'm sorry I was harsh to you. But I've been distraught since you told me he'd had an accident, and then to have you say I'm against you all, and then to find Much is alive, it's all too stressful.'

'I completely understand, I'm sorry I didn't make things clearer in the first place.'

'Maybe you should all stay the night, it's very late, and I think the rain's beginning to come down.'

'Much stay definitely,' Robin replied.

'No, you stay too,' Much said.

'Yeah, come on Robin, it'd do us good.' Robin looked to John.

'I've got to agree, I think it would,' he said.

'Right then, if you can cope with all four of us, we'll stay the night.'

'Of course I can.'

'Go and see to the horses,' Robin said as a general order to whoever wanted to obey. Both Alan and John went, unable to escape the trail of children following them.

'Lie down now Much, get some rest,' Katie said. Much nodded, and lay down, letting out a big breath. His eyes shut as soon as his head hit the cushions, and Katie and Robin began to whisper.

'I'll get blankets.'

It was nearly midnight by the time they were all settled in beds, and they were all tired. Alan and John and the children, and of course Much, were all fast asleep, but despite the deep tiredness in his limbs and head, Robin did not want to sleep; his eyes were wide open. He sat up, loosely covered by the blanket, and leant against the wall. He didn't jump when he heard a voice.

'Are you awake Robin?.' He turned to look at the other side of the cottage, where Katie was also leaning against the wall.

'Yes,' he whispered. Katie was on the side of the cottage with the children. She stood up, wrapping her blanket around her and tiptoeing over to Robin. She slumped herself down next to him.

'Why not?'

'Too much to think about I guess. I'm so tired though,' he said, rubbing his hands over his face.

'Been a rather stressful few days.' Katie had known Robin in his youth, but more as a passing figure, she hadn't been a major player in his childhood.

'Definitely...Don't know I'd have survived if he hadn't.'

'I thought he hadn't. Words can't describe the feeling.' Robin turned to look at her face, only a vague outline in the darkness.

'What are you to Much? You hardly ever see him, yet you still seem so close.' Katies sighed.

'It's just, well, I don't really know what I am to him now. Friends. But it used to be a bit more like sisterhood. I found him you see.'

'Found him?,' Robin asked, puzzled.

'You haven't heard the stories?,' Katie asked, turning to him.

'Stories? Well, I remember some of the rumours I suppose, but not stories as such.' Katie sighed again, and turned to look at Much.

'Well, I found him when he was little. It's not entirely true that he's an orphan. He might have parents, somewhere. Or might have had, I just don't know. There were people we thought must be his parents, but they left so soon.'

'When he was little? How little? Where? How?,' Robin could not believe the new information he was hearing about his friend, after over two decades of knowing him.

'He hasn't told you? Well, I suppose not, I don't know how much he knows. When I was about 15, 16 or so, maybe a bit older, a family came into the village of Loxley for a day or so. They seemed to just stay in their cart, on the outskirts. No-one had really bothered talking to them, they were not known, and there were rumours of pox about at the time, so we didn't welcome strangers. Someone said they'd seen a child, but we didn't bother investigating much. Us girls weren't interested once we knew there was no-one our age with them. We saw them pass through the town, fully packed, a day or two later. We assumed that was the last we'd hear of them. And it was. But a few days later I was in the wood looking for garlic, and I heard someone crying. That, frankly, terrified me, you know the sort of stories that went round about the woods, about the ghost, etc, it was all silly, but I looked about me, didn't hear anything more, so just walked on. Went round the corner of the path, smelt some wonderful garlic, ventured off the path, and was confronted by this tiny little blonde thing. I screamed my head off, he screamed back, and I nearly ran off. And that was Much.' Robin was horrified.

'Much?.'

'Yep. When I came to my senses, I realised how grave the situation was. He was tied to the tree, there was a noose round his neck, and I realised who he must be. I thought he might have the pox, covered my face, and ventured closer. He had perfect skin though, silky little blonde hair. I took my knife out, he screamed some more, tears pouring from his eyes, and he pulled away. The noose got tighter, and I hurried to cut him free from the tree. He calmed down when he saw I wasn't out to kill him. He crumpled into a little heap on the floor, curling up into a little ball. I dropped my basket, and pulled his little limbs apart, and pulled him into my arms until he'd shut up. God, I'll never forget it.' Robin was still speechless.

'I took the rope from round his neck, his sobbing subsided, and I got his name out of him. Much, that was all he'd say. For a good long time. He must have been in that wood for three days and nights at the least. There was a bright red mark round his neck, from the tightness and the scratchiness of the rope. I took him home, my mother was terrified, my dad was more sensible. My parents had tried to have more children after me, but it hadn't worked. After a while my mother realised she'd like having him around. He must have been between 4 and 6. I still don't know how old he actually is. He wasn't ever quite my parents son, my brother. He spent so much time around your house after a while, and in the early days it was difficult to get him to stay put. He'd go back to the wood path, wait for his parents. It was awful. I suppose he was almost like a surrogate son to me. I grew up before him, was married when he was a teenager, when you were teenagers I should say. Then the parents died, and before you went away, I had the twins, and then Henry died, and he was there for me. Then you both went off.' There was silence for a few minutes, as Robin thought over all the things that Katie had told him.

'He never mentioned it at all. Not once.'

'Don't take it personally, he never spoke of it to me either. I can't even figure out how much he remembers. It's affected him though. He's more of a thing than a people person. Doesn't trust easily. He waited for them for about a week, then he began to stop going so often, and eventually just stopped going at all. He's never mentioned them since. I don't think they were even his parents. They were probably thieves who found him in the house, and took him as well as his parents possessions. So we have even less of an idea who he actually is. He didn't really fit into the family as much as we'd have liked. We were close, extremely close, but that was the only thing that made it like sisterhood. He told me things. More like a very close female friend, which is what I was. It didn't seem to occur to him that it was slightly odd to have a woman friend who was ten years his senior.' Robin stood, and walked over to where Much was sleeping, looking down at him.

'It's funny, you can know someone their whole lives...and yet I've never thought to ask, it's never occurred to me how little I know.'

'You know more than anyone else Robin. You've been through things with that I can't even imagine,' Katie said, and Robin knew she was referring to the Holy Land. 'He doesn't invite comment anyway, he keeps attention away from his roots.'

'He always talked of coming home to Loxley, he never mentioned family. And yet he didn't even have a proper home to return to.'

'Had things been different I would have taken him in. But no, he had no real home, real family. Nowhere he was entitled to live. He's a smart lad though. Smarter than he lets on. He'd have found his way, even if you or I didn't take him in.' They sighed, and Katie joined Robin at Much's side. 'Perhaps you should get some sleep, Robin?,' she said.

'Oh, yes, sorry, you too. Night.'

'Night,' she said, creeping off to her side of the room. Robin lay back on his bed, but still couldn't go to sleep. Memories floated through his brain, all the memories of Much he had in his childhood, of the two of them playing, when they learnt to ride horses together when they were 13. He tried to remember the first time he met Much, but try though he might he couldn't. He couldn't bear to think of the Much he knew in his childhood, the youngest Much he could summon, tied to a tree, abandoned by people who may not even be his parents, left to die in a wood. A surge of hatred came over him as he thought of the people who had been so cruel as to abandon him to such a fate, in a part of the wood he knew few people would go. But for a garlic trip, Much's child skeleton could be in the wood at that very moment. In a fit of passionate rage, Robin turned over suddenly, and wrapped the blanket around him, screwing his eyes shut, determined to get some sleep.

When Robin woke, the others were all just waking up also, apart from Much, who was standing at the window. Robin moved over. Much was staring at Bonchurch Hall. Robin suddenly realised why the promise of the small estate had always meant so much to Much. He patted him, and put his arm round Much's shoulders.

'It will be yours one day my friend, I promise.' Much sighed.

'Miracles happen,' he said, turning to Robin. 'Sleep alright?'

'Yeah, okay,' Robin said. Little did he know that Much hadn't been thinking about the house, feelings of needing to find a home completely forgotten in thoughts of the woman he had loved. 'How you feeling?'

'All right. Well, ok.' Much turned his back to the window, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. 'What's the plan then?'

'Well, I think we need to get back to camp, sort things out a bit, then meet Guy.' Alan and John were standing up, and Katie was already stoking the fire.

'Move out soon then?'

'Yeah, I think that'd be good.'

'Staying for breakfast?,' Katie asked from the fireside. Robin looked to John and Alan, who were looking sleepy and stiff.

'Yes, I think we shall if that's good for you.'

'Of course it is.' Her and Much smiled at eachother, then Much headed for the door.

'Just going to check the horses,' he said, shutting the door behind him.

'You haven't mentioned it have you?,' Katie asked Robin.

'No, not yet. I think I might though.'

'Hmm, I'm not sure that'd be the best idea.'

'Well, I'll see how it goes. He seems to want to be on his own a bit at the moment.'

'He's got a lot to think about I suppose. Anyway, must get cooking!' She walked off, glowing with fake cheer for the sake of her children. Robin opened the door, and walked into the garden, stretching his arms. He enjoyed being in Bonchurch, it was a place that held few associations for him. It wasn't his or Marion's place, it didn't hold memories for him. He turned towards the horses, Much was standing patting Jenny, giving her a groom with a handful of straw he'd plaited together. Jenny was standing as if asleep, but when Much leaned on her neck, his head buried in her mane, she turned back and nibbled his shoulder, as she would groom another horse. Much put his arms round her, and Robin nearly went over to talk to him, but decided against it as he took the first step. Much stood back again, put a hand to his face, and untied Jenny's leadrope. Their tack was lying on the ground next to them, but he didn't bother saddling up before he put a foot on the fence, and climbed onto her back. She turned round, answering his leg aids, and as he turned, Much saw Robin watching him. Their eyes met across the hamlet, and then Much walked Jenny down the road, in the direction of Loxley. Despite the obvious dangers of Much walking about on his own, Robin didn't try to stop him, especially when he saw Much turn into the wood, and down a nearly hidden path. He turned and went back into the house.

'Where's Much gone?,' Alan asked, handing Robin a bowl of porridge.

'He's just gone out for a bit, a walk.'

'Robin, that's not safe!,' John said, nearly slamming his bowl down.

'Don't worry, he'll be fine. He's on Jenny, she'll look after him.' John looked doubtful, but realised there was no point in arguing, so returned to his breakfast. Alan stared at Robin with a perplexed look for a moment, then did likewise.

They were all finishing up the last scraps of their breakfasts when Alan decided it was time to check where Much was. He opened the door, looked to the horses and saw the Jenny was tied up again, but he could not see Much. He turned round to tell the others, then jumped, startled to see Much sitting leaning against the wall of the house a foot from the door.

'Bloody,' he began, then remembered that he was near children, and toned it down. 'Made me jump out my skin Much! Not hungry?'

'Not really. We off soon?' The others had heard, and Robin came to the door.

'I think we need to be yes, sure you don't want anything?'

'Yeah, I'm good thanks.'

'Okay, we'll be off then Katie.' John had been playing with the children, and popped the little girl back on the ground, picking up his staff in her place.

'Right.' She smiled. 'Been good having you all.' Much walked back into the hut. Katie smiled at him. 'You silly moo, Much! Don't ever do that to me again!' He gave a sort of half smile, and then walked and took her in a hug. Robin and John looked on for a moment, and then left the house.

'I'm sorry Kate. So sorry.'

'Don't be, you silly moo. Just try and look after yourself.' They released eachother, and Much took the children in a joint hug.

'Here's a useful piece of advice,' he said to them. 'Try and be as unlike me as possible,' he said, standing again. He hugged Katie again.

'Thank you. Thank you so much,' he whispered, then turned and left. She stood at the door, surrounded by her youngsters, and waved them off with a sad smile.

They had hardly arrived at the camp before they had to leave again to meet Guy. He was waiting at the crossroads, the very place Much had been shot just a day or two ago. Robin was shocked to see brightly coloured fletching of the arrows he had broken from Much's chest. Much dismounted next to them, and picked them up.

'Souvenir,' he said to them, examining the fletching. There was still a sort of stand-offish feel to their meetings, with Robin and his men stood in one line, Guy opposite them. Much, who stood away from the line as he was looking at the arrows, turned to them, and looked from Robin to Guy.

'Why don't we sit over here?,' he said, gesturing to the area around him. Robin turned, and the others followed. Naturally they arranged themselves into a circle, Robin on one side of Much, Guy the other, with Alan next to him, and then John in-between him and Robin. 'Funny these things, I think they must be parrot feathers,' Much commented, to get the hypothetical ball rolling. He looked at the ground beyond the arrows, and saw a clump of leaves, stuck together with dried blood. He swallowed, and pulled his eyes away from them.

'Yes, he keeps a supply of them in his room, makes the arrows himself,' Guy said, in a similarly light tone.

'Hmm, interesting.' Robin rubbed his eyes.

'We better get on with things I think, if you two don't mind,' he said, with a touch of the tease. 'We have met one possible candidate for our spy, and were completely mistaken, but the rumours of Much's death will hopefully have been but to rest.' He put a hand on Much's shoulder as he said his name.

'I did a little research on that matter. The woman is a former spy of the Sheriff's who wronged him. He now keeps her for his own personal amusement. She is held in a holding house just inside the northern castle walls.' Much's eyes flashed.

'Any name?,' he asked.

'No, people do not talk of her freely, and I do not know if any knew her before.'

'Right then, it seems we need to get into the castle again. Can you help us with that?,' Robin asked Guy.

'If you are not seen as yourselves. Then I can get you in. But, well, I can't push my luck. I can't get found out.' Robin gave a look of disbelief, but Alan nodded fervently.

'He wouldn't do anything to you surely?,' Robin asked.

'Oh he would. Very little matters to him, nothing beyond himself and his own ambitions. If I were found to be working against him, I'd be gone in a flash.'

'You're a strong man, you can look after yourself,' Robin said, dismissively.

'No, it's true Robin, give 'im a rest. The Sheriff could have him killed in minutes.'

'I suppose you are in more danger being in the castle already. Already trapped,' John said, sensibly.

'Fine. I'm sorry. You won't get found out. All we need is a little cover around the area of the holding cell. We can't really afford too much activity, with Much out of action as well.'

'Of course, I can get them in for briefing or something. When do you intend to make the move? And what will you do with her?.'

'I shall decide that when the time comes. We will do it tomorrow, unless we tell you otherwise, we'll get a message to you at Loxley if that is the case. When would be the best time for you?'

'Some time in the afternoon, that is when the men usually get briefed.'

'Okay, fine, we'll be in not long after lunch. It's highly unlikely we'll see you. But if you meet us at some point in the next day or so,' Robin began, before Guy said

'The next early morning perhaps, I ride to the castle, I could go through the forest.'

'Yes, that will be good, we'll meet you somewhere on the way.' Robin stood up, and that seemed to signal the end of the conversation, so the others stood, and they remounted their horses.

'Farewell, and good luck,' Guy said. Robin nodded at him, and they all shook hands again, and then turned their opposite ways. Robin waited for Guy to have trotted off before he turned in the correct direction for their camp.

'What are we going to do with her?,' Much asked.

'As I said, I'll decide that when the time comes. I suppose we'll have to do something with her, we can't have her continying spying on us. She's already spread the rumour of your death.' Much hesitated.

'You think that was her then?.'

'Well, I don't know if she directly spread the rumour, but it strikes me as pretty obvious that it was her who told the Sheriff first.'

'Yes, I suppose so.' They arrived at camp, and they each saw to their own horses. Much always paid particular attention to Jenny, and gave her another groom, before returning into the camp with the others. John was slicing some bread, and Much fetched another carrot.

'Some time you're going to have to start eating normal food again you know Much,' Robin said, jokily. 'Didn't you ever hear the story of the king who died from carrot poisoning?'

'That, Robin, was a complete myth. He was just far too fat anyway. The carrots probably did him good.'

'You'll be able to see better in the dark now!,' Alan said from the other side of the camp.

'You'll turn into a horse,' John said, handing around plates of normal food. Much took his, and placed his carrot on it.

'Fine. Although that comment on the size of my nose is frankly rather hurtful John!.' They all laughed, and Robin gave Much a playful shove. They ate in silence, Much munching his carrot, along with, to the other's relief, the rest of his food. John placed his empty plate down, and said:

'I'm going to need another look at your wound today, Much.'

'Okay. It's not hurting so much now.'

'Good, let's get that done now.' Much went to move, but John got there first, sitting in front of Much, and undoing his shirt. He pulled his long shirt up, and put his hand against the bandage.

'Ee!,' Much winced, as John pulled the bandage off. There was a crust of dried blood sticking the bandage to his wound.

'Sorry.' He slowely pulled the bandage away, and uncovered the wound, in all it's gory glory. Much looked down, but was only met by the site of John's hair. John sat back, grabbing some new bandages from a cubby hole. Much frowned.

'Going to be some good scars there, eh?,' he said to John.

'Indeed. Well, you don't have any others do you?'

'Yes I have, there's one on my back. But that's probably not a good as these'll be.'

'I think it's coming along all right, but I don't think it'll be coming back together for a while.' Much held the pad bandage in place, and John wrapped the long one around his chest, to hold the pad in place. He tied the knot, then turned to Robin.

'I think I better go down to the mill, we're low on supplies and we'll need to make a payment to them in the next few days anyway, so I might as well get it done now, before we've got a bit more on our plate.

'Right, good plan.'

'I'll go with 'im,' Alan said.

'Okay, you taking horses?'

'Yeah, we shouldn't be long,' John said, fetching his staff and one of the little bags they kept with payments in them.

'See yah!,' Alan said, putting a bow on his back and trotting off to the horses.

'Shut the door behind you will you John?,' Robin said.

'Will do!,' John said, exiting the camp, and shutting the door behind him, before running to the horses. Much and Robin sat in silence, listening for the sound of John and Alan departing.

'Come on, get out of it!,' they heard Alan say, followed by a little neigh, and then the sound of retreating hooves. Much sighed, and leaned back on the timbers of the camp walls. His eyes were shut, and Robin watched him for a moment, before sitting up slowely and speaking.

'I was talking to Katie last night.' Much didn't move.

'I thought you might have been. She forgiven you?'

'I don't know. I think so.'

'Good. I knew she would, she's too nice not to. I'm glad.'

'As it happens, we weren't really talking about ourselves.'

'Really?,' Much said, almost dreamily, more likely sleepily.

'Yeah. We were in fact talking about you.'

'Well I don't blame you, I'm a fascinating topic of conversation.'

'So I've discovered.' Much turned his head and looked at Robin, worry in his eyes.

'Really?'

'Yep. 'Fraid so.'

'What did she tell you?'

'Quite a bit. Most of it I think.' Much looked away again, staring at the ground in front of him.

'Oh.'

'It doesn't matter you know Much.'

'It does though really, doesn't it?'

'Not to me.'

'Not to you, but to other people. Well, maybe not so much now. But if things had been different, and if they're ever right again.'

'Much, you're not defined by who your parents are. You will be known for you deeds, good and honourable. That's all that will matter.'

'What did she actually tell you?' Robin hesitated, remembering that Katie had said Much might not remember some of it.

'Well, she told me she found you, about the people who left you. Who your parents might have been.' Much leant forward and put his head in his hands, running them through his hair.

'Like a sad puppy. I don't fit in. I don't fit in anywhere, 'cos I've no idea who I actually am. You say it doesn't matter, but whether it matters to other people or not, it matters to me,' he said, anger in his voice, slightly shaking. 'I don't know who my parents are, I don't know where they are, whether they're alive, they're probably dead by now anyway. I'm sick of this bloody cycle. My whole life I've been trying to avoid it. Avoid thinking about it, avoid doing anything about it. And then the thought that maybe they were my parents. Maybe they just didn't want me.' The anger had left, he sounded hopeless, Robin moved over, sitting next to him. He was surprised to see tears on Much's face, and didn't really know what to say.

'Much, I'm sure that wasn't the case. You fit in right here, with us.'

'How long did that take? I mean, I probably don't even know the details. I don't know as much as I ought to. Katie doesn't want to tell me. And I've made it worse for myself. When Jane and Roger were around, I distanced myself. Shouldn't have, I really shouldn't have. Now they're not here, and I went off to the Holy Land, right when Henry had died, and then I came home and Jenny was dead too.' Robin remembered that the daughter wasn't Katie's, Jenny must have been the sister Katie lost whilst they were in the Holy Land.

'Much..there's probably nothing I can say, is there?' Much sighed, and pulled himself up, wiping his nose on his sleeve, and shaking his head.

'Not really. There's nothing I can do. It's stupid to think about it. I just...I just wish I had done something. There's no hope of finding them, whether them is the people who tied me, or whoever they took me from.'

'So, you do remember then?'

'Yeah, not really the sort of thing you forget that easily. I wasn't that young. Katie doesn't know I remember though.' Robin put his arm round Much, and pulled him closer, resting his chin on Much's head, as Much was still slouched forward. 'I mean, I hardly think about it, it's always there, in the back of my head, but I don't think about the whole thing most of the time. And Katie doesn't either, but nearly dying seems to have the effect of getting people to think about how it all started.'

'I asked her why you were so close, I don't remember you both together much in our youth.'

'No, as I said, I wasn't grateful enough, I never felt quite right with them, preferred being on my own. Or round yours of course.'

'So all that time in the Holy Land, when we talked about home, where were you thinking about?'

'Oh, Loxley of course, but just the general area. The town more than the a specific place in it.'

'Why didn't you ever tell me? You know everything about me, about when mum died, about Marion, everything.'

'I'm sorry Robin. Shame maybe. I didn't want to, well, I just didn't want you to know I suppose. It's something I'm completely uncomfortable with, I hardly know what to think myself, I didn't know what you'd think of me, I didn't want anyone else to know about it.'

'Much, I could never judge you because of this. If anything it just improves my opinion of you. You're my best friend, the best friend I've ever had and ever will. I would never let something like this get in the way of our friendship?'

'I should have told you. I know I should have, but it's hard to talk about. I'm just so uncertain about what I come from. I mean, what if they were my parents? Crooks at best! What sort of person would abandon a child like that? And what if they weren't? What if I DESERVED to be left?.'

'You KNOW that's not true Much, don't say that. We don't know what happened, it's highly unlikely we ever will, but that's not what matters to us, we only care about what you are now. And if you ever marry, the girl's parents will only think about what you've done, not what your parents may or may not have done.' Much took a deep breath, then blew it out through his mouth, his eyes shut. He put his hands on Robin's shoulders, and pulled himself up.

'I'm sorry, I wish I'd told you sooner. Don't take it as a slight, no-one knows, I only didn't tell you because I don't like talking about it. I know you'd never let it affect you.' He winced, holding his side.

'Are you going to be okay for this thing tomorrow?'

'Yes, I want to come. Far better come and be not too helpful than get left behind again.'

'Right, of course. Best get rested then.'


	4. Chapter 4

The market was sprawling and busy when they entered the castle the next day

The market was sprawling and busy when they entered the castle the next day. They were all carrying sacks of potatoes, and were making a beeline for the grocery shop they often made deliveries too. The guards at the gate ignored them once they had checked the content of the sacks. There were only two of them, instead of the usual four or five, Robin was relieved to see that Guy had obviously acted in their favour.

'All right Ted?,' he asked, when they reached the grocer who was waiting for them.

'As well as can be expected thanks. I heard something about you though,' he said, nodding at Much.

'It's fine, it wasn't true,' Much said, placing his sack in the storage area, followed by John and Alan. They said farewell to Ted, and left the shop, going to the alley behind it.

'Right, Much and I will lead, coming in from the left, and you two come round from the right. I'll expect to see you around the outbuildings before us, if you take longer, or come into trouble, just head back, and we'll meet you here.' Alan and John nodded, then wrapped their cloaks round them, and headed off round towards the right of the castle. 'Ready?,' Robin asked, turning to Much.

'Yep.' They put their hoods up, and headed out into the street. After a few hundred metres, they took a turn to their right, down a narrow alleyway. It was usually guarded by at least one man, but they found it clear. 'Guy really paying off,' Much commented. They came to a small courtyard, and walked round the edge, taking another small alleyway, with a gutter down the middle, which was full of something that looked rather like horse pee. They came out into the stables, where there were three grooms.

'Oi!,' one shouted, walking up to them. Robin and Much threw back their cloaks, and punched the advancing grooms, dropping them to the floor. They dragged them into a stable, and bolted both the doors. After a minutes walking they heard muffled shouts from the stables, and sped up their pace. They hugged the wall of the castle, and peered round the corner. They saw John and Alan doing likewise, and advanced. They looked over to the building that they were sure must hold the woman. They looked about them. The only places people could come from were the ways they came, there were no windows or doors in the castle on this side, the Northern walls being the most strongly built and high. There was only about 13 feet between the castle walls and the holding room. John had knocked the padlock to pieces with his staff, and they pushed the door open, shutting it behind them. The room was barely furnished, there was a wooden bench, a table, and bars over the one window. It was dark, but there was a candle lit on the table, held up by a lump of previously melted wax. There was no-one to be seen however.

'Maybe she's with the Sheriff?,' Alan ventured.

'No,' Much said, striding forward and pushing the chunky table out of the way. Beneath it, one of the heavy flagstones of the floor had a loop in it, and there were wider cracks between it and the other stones.

'Well done Much,' Robin said, patting him on the back. John bent down, and, using the loop, heaved the stone out of place. A set of stairs was revealed, with candlelight flickering from below.

'I'll stay here, you go down,' John said. Much took the first steps, before anyone could say anymore, drawing his sword as he went. Robin followed him, then Alan, having hesitated, went too. The room they entered was a medium sized stone dungeon, but with no cages set up within it. There were no torches on the wall, but a candle was lit in the middle of the room, on the floor. On the wall was a figure. Splayed out, with arms and legs tied to metal loops hammered into the wall, there was a small black sack over the person's head. Much's breath caught, and, his sword still drawn, he moved silently closer. Alan and Robin moved forward, and Alan began to whisper something to Robin. Suddenly the covered head bolted back, and a sweet but muffled voice came from it.

'Who's there?' At the sound of the voice, Much dropped his sword. It clattered loudly on the floor, and John called down from above.

'Is everything alright?' No-one answered, until Robin managed to call up,

'Yeah, it's fine.'

'Who is that? Please!' Much was staring at the woman, moving slightly closer. Robin and Alan didn't move, just watched Much, not realising for a moment that they were holding their breaths.

'E,' Much began, before stopping and taking a gulp.

'Yes?,' she said. Robin noticed that she was still wearing the light blue dress, which was looking ragged and thin. Much swallowed again, before seeming to gather courage.

'Eve?,' he said.

'Yes? Who is it?' Much's stomach took a lurch, and he stopped, directly in front of the woman.

'It's...it's me.' He took hold of the bottom of the hood, and lifted it slowely.

'Much?,' she said, before he had fully removed it. 'Much? Is it you? I thought you were dead!' He pulled the hood off, and was met by a site that made his stomach lurch again, with a mixture of relief and horror. It was Eve, his Eve, but not as he had known her. She had a black eye, and a split lip, and another dark bruise on her cheek. 'Much. You came. I knew you would,' she said, biting back sobs. 'I knew you'd come. But I thought you were dead.' Much stood looking at her for a moment, rage growing in his heart, before he threw it off, and took her in his arms, holding her tight.

'What have they done to you?,' he said, swallowing the lump in his throat.

'Oh, I don't want to explain. God, thank god you're here. I thought I'd never see you again.' She hung her head on his shoulder.

'Eve, Eve, thank god you're alive.' He pulled her tighter, and then pulled back. He drew his dagger, and cut the ropes that held her up. She fell into his arms, and he sat down with her, cutting the ropes around her ankles. He gathered her in his arms, holding her in his lap. She lay back, her eyes shut. 'Eve, oh Eve,' he said, stroking her cheek. She took his hand in hers, and kissed it.

'I thought you were dead. He said you were dead. That you died, that he poisoned you. He found I'd been out, he put me here and said you were dead.'

'Shh,' Much said, pulling her into an embrace. 'It's fine, it's not true. He did this to you?'

'He always does,' she said, sobbing. 'Oh, I don't want to explain. How are you here? What are you doing?'

'Getting you,' Much said. 'We need to get her out Robin,' he said, calling back to Robin, but not able to tear his eyes away from Eve. Robin looked doubtful for a moment, but realised he could not deny this Much, he could deal with the consequences later. He had, after all, said he would decide what to do with the woman when the time came. Much had just decided for him.

'Much, Much you have to let me tell you, I need to tell you,' Eve said, still sobbing and out of breath. He brushed his hand through her hair, shushing her. 'Much, I'm, I'm ill.' Much held her closer. 'I was pregnant, I threw myself down the stairs, I'm ill.' Much felt a sick panic spread through him, but managed to keep it out of his voice.

'Okay, it doesn't matter to me Eve, you're going to be okay now, we'll get you out. Robin, we need to get a horse, she can't walk and we need to get out quickly.' He stood up, carrying her in his arms, and walked past Robin and Alan, carrying her up the stairs.

'What?,' John began as Much reached the top of the stairs.

'No time,' Robin said, closely following Much. Much rested Eve down on the wooden bench, and she began to catch her breath. 'John, go to the stables, fetch us horses, we'll each be needing one, Much and Eve share. Go!,' Robin said, and John ran out of the room. 'Remember to check the shoes!,' Robin shouted after John. 'Alan, go and help.' Alan ran out, and Robin turned to Much and Eve. Eve was still talking very fast, sounding worried and panicked, letting out a sob every few words. Robin went and knelt next to Much, putting a hand on his back.

'We'll get out soon enough,' he said. Much nodded, and then Robbin turned to retrieve Much's sword from the chamber below. When he returned upstairs, Much was holding back Eve's hair, as she was sick on the floor in the corner of the room. John appeared at the door, holding two pairs of reins, and shot a worried look in Much and Eve's direction. When Eve's lurches subsided, Much sat her down on the bench again. He put a hand to her forehead, and felt it was cold and sweaty. He took off his cloak, and wrapped it round her, then picked her up again.

'Let's go,' he said, walking out of the door, to where John and Alan were waiting, already mounted. Much turned to Robin, and put Eve in his arms. Robin was shocked to feel how light and frail she felt, and then passed her into Much's waiting arms on the horse. Much wrapped one arm around her, and took the reins in the other.

'Dash for the exit?,' Alan asked.

'I think it's the best options, Guy's bought us enough time.' With that order, Much turned his horse, and cantered towards the left alley, which was the quicker route. He bent forward, as the timbers of the buildings overhung the path, it obviously wasn't meant for horses to pass through. They reached the gate in minutes, and then they ignored the guards, ducking from the arrows, and spurred their horses into a gallop when they had jumped the barricade.


End file.
